6 Chapter: 06
"Surprise indeed. I admit that I had thought you had died after your disappearance for a century. But it seems that I was wrong."
Byakuya admitted with a stunned expression, staring at the tanned woman.
"Yoruichi-san, thanks for coming, but please stay out of this. I will defeat him!" Ichigo readied his sword and said with conviction but his eyes bulged, and blood burst out of his mouth as Yoruichi's fist connected to the wound in his stomach, causing his world to turn upside down as he lost consciousness.
Picking up the unconscious Ichigo, she slumped him over her shoulder before looking at the three captains looking at her.
Ukitake's brows raised as he observed Yoruichi and Ichigo.
"You shoved a powerful anesthetic directly into his organs? Do you intend to heal him?" He was confused. After all, unlike Urahara, Yoruichi wasn't considered a criminal by the Soul Society. Instead, she was naught but a lost princess that vanished one day.
"Do you really think you can escape from here?" Byakuya asked while staring at Yoruichi as if she was an idiot.
"Hahaha! I see you have learned how to brag, Kuchiki boy~ But did you ever remember yourself beating me in the game of tag?"
Byakuya's eyes narrowed as he lowered his sword, his voice yet again returning to monotone. "Then why don't we try it again?"
The moment his voice fell, both Yoruichi and Byakuya vanished, appearing once again with Yoruichi behind Byakuya, stunning him as he slashed his sword horizontally backward in a circular motion, passing by Yoruichi's afterimage as she appeared outside of the bridge.
However, the moment Yoruichi landed on the ground, her eyes widened to the extreme as Byakuya appeared behind and slashed, cutting her arm away.
"It's funny that you still think that you can outrun me with such mediocre Shunpo (Flash Step)." He said with an even tone even while his sword cut through Yoruichi's arm.
'Ah. She pulled body replacement jutsu.' Standing some distance away from them, Gin internally thought as everything seemed to play in extremely slow motion in front of his eyes and him seeing everything before it even transpired didn't help either. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was literally impossible to run away from Gin if he so desired.
After all, what the fast speed can do when Gin already knows where the person is going to land, what their next move is going to be, and which direction they are going to run? Even now if he wanted, he could easily catch Yoruichi.
'I mean, even if I am not as fast as her, which is obviously a cap, I can still use teleportation.'
While he was examining the whole game of tag, Yoruichi's body burst into pieces of clothes stunning Byakuya as she appeared above his outstretched arm smirking, staring at his face, her teasing voice leaving her mouth.
"Aye~ Kuchiki boy~ Did you really think you could catch me with such a mediocre Shunpo?" But her teasing expression stiffened as she felt someone standing over her shoulder poking her cheeks.
"It has been a while… like… around some centuries since I last played a game of tag, so do forgive me if I come out as slightly mediocre, Princess Yoruichi~"
"... Ichimaru Gin." Yoruichi suddenly felt a burst of irritation within her heart hearing the sarcastic mocking tone of the blue-haired Shinigami, prompting her to jab backward towards Gin's face which he easily dodged by backflipping and landing steadily on the bridge.
"I guess I'm the winner then." He smirked much to the increasing irritation of both Yoruichi and Byakuya.
Ignoring him, Yoruichi vanished and appeared on a building some distance away. She looked back at Byakuya, "I will make this kid stronger than you in three days. Until then, I will not be captured even if you pursue me." and asserted in a deep voice before looking towards Gin who was waving his hand saying his goodbyes to her, to which she clicked her tongue in annoyance before vanishing.
"Ma~ That was fun." Gin clapped his hands before picking up Ganju and crying Hanataro. "I will take my leave then too."
There wasn't anything else left fun to do here any longer. Might as well go and do a trade with Yoruichi.
…
"Forgive me for moving on my own, Captain Ichimaru." Kira kneeled in front of Gin and said, making Gin shake his head and started to walk away around the compound of the 3rd Division, his voice entering Kira's ears.
"It's alright. It just shows your loyalty to your captain. There is no need for you to ask for forgiveness. Let's go. I want to walk around the compound a little."
Kira's expression relaxed.
"Yes!"
He shouted before standing up and walking beside Gin who walked slowly over the bridge, fully illuminated by the moonlight falling over it, prompting Gin to look up at the silver moon in silence.
'Really… No matter how much I look at this, this world is one weird fucker. Souls can bleed, can have sex, can give birth, there was a moon and a sun; it is already a miracle why no one has questioned all of this yet.'
Gin wondered if Soul Society is just a sub-dimension in the real world or does it exist in a completely different solar system. Mayhap, the moon and the sun are naught but artificial creations. All in all, Gin was quite interested and wondered if he could buy it…
The answer was, yes, he could. He could buy the motherfucking moon! But he turned his head away as he felt a headache trying to count the zeros. There was no end to them!
"Captain… Are you alright?" Kira asked nervously, seeing Gin shaking his head and massaging his head.
"Nothing. I was wondering how hard the life of a poor man is."
"What?" Kira confusedly blurted out. He wondered what his captain was talking about and if he had hurt his head or something.
"You won't understand." Gin sighed but his expression abruptly turned into a smirk as he turned his head to the side, seeing Hitsugaya appear there.
"I knew I would find you here, Ichimaru." Hitsugaya stated with a frowned and angry expression. "Only Izuru's cell was opened from the outside. You should really be working on hiding your tracks."
"Oh." Gin opened his mouth and smirked. "I did that on purpose, Captain Hitsugaya, because I knew that you would follow the tracks left behind or why else do you think I am taking a stroll outside? But I am glad that you have gotten here before Hinamori does."
Hitsugaya's grip over his sword tightens.
"Don't worry. I will kill you before she arrives here."
"Scary." Gin smirked, not stopping him since before Hitsugaya could even move, Hinamori landed between them, stunning Hitsugaya.
"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya called out to her but she ignored him and started to draw her sword out.
"I finally found you."
"Stay back, Hinamori! Ichimaru is way too strong for you. I will deal with him—?!" He stood stunned as Hinamori leveled her sword at Hitsugaya's neck, much to his increasing grin of Gin.
"This is for Captain Aizen."
"... What are you—"
"I read Captain Aizen's will." She cut him off and explained with a painful expression. How this letter was to be delivered to her after his death and how he explained everything in it. The more Hitsugaya listened the more stunned he became as finally, he couldn't believe what he heard. "And that the person who planned all of this is 10th Division Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya! Why would you kill Captain Aizen, Hitsugaya-kun?!"
"Yes. Why would you do it, Captain Hitsugaya?" Gin also asked with a stunned expression before smirking, barely stopping himself from laughing out loud. This was way too funny for him.
"Ichimaru Gin!" Hitsugaya barely stopped himself from pouncing at Gin.
"He… Captain Aizen said… he said that he will be calling Hitsugaya-kun at East Holy Wall at night in an effort to foil his plans. And that he was willing to trade swords with you if situations asked for it… and that if… if Captain Aizen died, he wanted me to kill you! I will complete Captain Aizen's last wish!"
She shouted and attacked Hitsugaya, who blocked her sword, too startled to even understand what was going on.
A loud explosion occurred as Hitsugaya skidded back, stopping at some distance as he shouted towards Hinamori.
"Are you crazy, Hinamori?! Aizen wasn't a man who would start a fight that he couldn't win or the sort of coward who would point his subordinate to fight for him and clean up his mess!"
"Then are you saying that the latter is a lie?!" She shouted back and slashed at him once again, which he blocked. "I know Captain Aizen's handwriting, and the letter had the same handwriting as that of Captain Aizen!"
"Fuck!" Hitsugaya cursed loudly as he narrowly dodged a slash, dodging one slash after another and not attacking back at her.
"I also didn't want to believe this…" Hinamori added tearfully. "But this is Captain Aizen's last wish, and I have other choices but to complete it!"
'Ah… This is just beautiful!' Gin's smirk widened, staring at Hinamori trying her best to kill Hitsugaya as he dodged one slash after another, trying to clarify that the letter is naught but a fabrication. 'Man… This sadistic pleasure… I might become addicted to it!'
"Ichimaru Gin! It was you! You fabricated all of this, didn't you?!" Hitsugaya shouted, glancing at the smirking Gin whose expression didn't even change from what Hitsugaya said.
He readied his sword to slash at Gin but Hinamori appeared in front of him, making him grit his teeth as he jabbed at her nape, stunning her as her consciousness slipped away from her, prompting her to fall as Hitsugaya caught her.
"You shouldn't have attacked her so hard, Captain Hitsugaya." Gin reprimanded him, staring at stunned Hitsugaya who held Hinamori in his hand. "You are supposed to protect her, not hurt her, poor thing."
"You had to make Hinamori suffer because Aizen wasn't enough for you."
"Hm?"
"She gripped her so hard that her hands were bleeding."
"What might you be trying to tell me, Captain Hitsugaya? I thought I affirmed that I am not good at solving puzzles."
"Did you forget, Ichimaru?" Hitsugaya asked, putting the unconscious body of Hinamori at the side. "I promised you that if you made Hinamori bleed, I would kill you!"
He angrily shouted and furiously ripped his sword out of his sheath, prompting Ichimaru to sigh.
"If you do that, then I will be forced to stop you, Captain Hitsugaya."
…
"Captain Gin…" Kira called out nervously, feeling his legs giving away as the Reiatsu of Gin and Hitsugaya collided with each other, bending the space between them.
"If you do not want to die, run away from here, Kira-kun." With an amused grin, Gin replied, causing whatever Kira was about to say stuck in his throat.
Despite his unwillingness of leaving his captain alone, Kira listened to Gin and ran away as fast as possible. He knew that if he stayed there, even a stray attack might be enough to kill him.
The fight between the captains was no joke after all.
"At least you have enough conscience to not let your lieutenant be killed." Hitsugaya scoffed and jumped up in the air.
[Reign over the Frozen Heaven: Hyorinmaru]
He raised his sword, and swung it circularly around him as its tip followed by a tail of ice, forming an ice dragon! Raising his sword towards the sky, Hitsugaya slashed at Gin as the dragon followed the given direction, opened its maw, and dived towards Ichimaru.
"How cold." Gin smirked before pointing his finger at the coming dragon, a small crimson vortex formed at the tip of his finger as it furiously spun, sucking Spiritual Particles from the atmosphere like a hungry beast, forming a ball of condensed red energy.
If Mayuri or Aizen were here, they might have detected how the spell doesn't seem to use Gin's energy but energy from the air itself, like Quincy!
[Hadō #31. Shakkahō]
Once fully condensed into a ball of spinning crimson energy, at Gin's voice, it was released forward in the shape of a crimson beam that obliterated everything within its path! A second later, only a dying trail of crimson energy was left that went and hit the barrier up above in Seireitei, shaking it!
'Hmmm. Did I collect too many Spiritons? I should be careful next time.'
Hitsugaya's eyes widened stunned as he couldn't believe that a mere 31 Hado spell was able to destroy the attack of his Shikai. But he didn't dabble too much over it before he once again pulled his sword back, another circular motion and another dragon formed, as he slashed towards Gin once more.
"Oya~ Captain Hitsugaya. Did you not learn your lesson on the first try?" Gin inquired with a mocking tone before he raised his finger once more but his motion stopped as he raised a brow, seeing the dragon splitting and turning into three dragons, all diving towards Gin with their maws open. "... I guess you did."
He chuckled before his gesture changed from a pointed finger to an open palm.
[Hadō #58. Tenran]
The air trembled, a gust of dust rose behind Gin due to shockwave, as a shockwave tornado formed in front of Gin as it traveled straight towards three dragons, hitting them hard and breaking them apart into ice particles as they rained down on the world like beautiful snowflakes.
"This is the end!" Gin raised a brow, staring back at Hitsugaya who had his sword pointed at the back of his nape.
"Is that so?" Hitsugaya's eyes widened as time seemed to slow down for him, staring at the beam of condensed lightning reaching for his pupil ever so slowly within his mind. The beam was condensed to the point where its color had turned into pure white; it even was bending the space around it!
[Hadō #4. Byakurai]
'Byakurai my ass!' Hitsugaya shouted internally.
It shouldn't have been possible to condense such a pure beam of lightning so fast, which prompted Hitsugaya to understand that Gin already predicted his appearance in the same exact place!
Blood drained away from his face making him realize what that entailed. Yet, despite feeling slight apprehension at the fact that this whole fight seemed to be already predicted by Gin till the end, Hitsugaya barely dodged the beam of light from penetrating his skill and ducked down, letting it pass from above his head.
"Oya~ Are you sure you want to dodge that, Captain Hitsugaya?" Gin smirked, seeing how Hitsugaya's face turned into horror as he realized that Hinamori was lying in the path of the beam of light.
BOOM!
A huge blast occurred, blasting away everything and creating a huge cloud of dust.
"HINAMORI!" Hitsugaya shouted in horror but his footsteps stopped as a sigh of relief left his lips seeing how a thick wall of ash stood in front of Hinamori, taking the hit from the condensed beam of lightning.
Gin opened his eyes, staring at the blond-haired buxom woman.
"Captain Ichimaru, stop this, or I will be left with no other choice but to engage with you in a fight."
"..." Gin stared at Rangiku in silence, feeling weird in his heart. It can't be helped. After all, he was still Gin in all sense of reality. Just that "his" ego dominated everything about this body and soul. And it also didn't help when "his" and Gin's ego had completely merged making it so that "he" was Gin and Gin was "him". In simplest terms, he held everything of Gin, experience, pain, suffering, love, feelings, and emotions; this of course included his love for Rangiku.
'I suddenly want to tease her now…' His smirk that had vanished returned to his face as he raised his hand in surrender.
"It can't be helped. I do not wish to fight with my future wife after all."
"What?" Hitsugaya, who stood closest to Gin, was stunned silly.
"Huh?" Rangiku blinked her eyes blankly as if not understanding what Gin just said which soon was shown in the form of crimson blush over her face.
"Excuse me?" While Kira stared at his captain as if staring at some ghost… technically…
"CLAP—I will take my leave then." Gin turned around but was stopped by the shout of Rangiku.
"W-wait! Gin! What do you mean by that?!"
Not turning back, Gin shrugged before vanishing in the veil of darkness, leaving behind dumbfound Hitsugaya and Kira and blushing Rangiku whose mind raced to hundreds of different ideas. It was going to be a long night for poor her.
…
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