Breaking Through the Storm [Toshiro Hitsugaya] Ch 20

Short recap: Ichigo and the others were on their way to Los Noches when they met up with Lunuganga, and they were about to get crushed by him. But he was frozen solid...

xXxXx

"Tsuki no mai, hakuren!" They heard a voice yell. Lunuganga became encased by the massive wave of ice that was fired at him.

"Isn't that..." Ichigo trailed off. He looked back in the direction of where the attack was fired. Rukia was standing there, holding Sode no Shirayuki over her shoulder. "Rukia! Renji! You guys..."

"Ichigo, you idiot!" Rukia said. She swiftly punched him below the chin, and Renji elbowed him in the stomach.

"What was that for?!" Ichigo said.

"Why did you go into Hueco Mundo by yourselves like that?! You should've waited for us to come back!" she said.

"You were coming back?" he said.

"Of course we were! Aren't we friends?"

"Rukia..." Sayuri said.

"The same goes for you, Sayuri," a voice came from behind her. Sayuri turned around only to be flicked on the forehead. "Don't be so reckless. You could've got really hurt if we weren't here," Toshiro said. Her eyes widened.

"Toshiro!" she said. "I thought you-"

"Weren't coming back?" He scoffed. "Of course I was. I can't believe you'd think so little of me."

"Ith that your boyfriend, nee-chan?" Nel tugged on Sayuri's sleeve. Sayuri's face turned redder than a tomato. She looked down at the small Arrancar as if she'd suggested the impossible.

"Are you kidding me?! Me date him? Never!"

"What's with the capes?" Ichigo said. He gestured toward the tan capes that the three Shinigami were wearing.

"Oh, these? Nii-sama gave us these to protect us from the wind," Rukia said. Sayuri snickered.

"Who knew that Byakuya could be so caring," she said.

"Anyways, what exactly are these guys?" Toshiro pointed to Nel and her "brothers".

"What are we?! How rude!" Nel said. Sayuri sighed.

"Toshiro, meet Nel. Nel, meet Toshiro. These two," Sayuri gestured toward Dondochakka and Pesche, "are Dondochakka and Pesche."

"And together we're The Great Desert Brothers!"

"-Three Brothers!"

"-Nelldonpe Bandith!" They said this all at the same time. "Wait a minute! I thought we were 'Nelldonpe Bandith?'" Nel said.

"How is that combined?" Ichigo said.

"And what's 'Nelldonpe Bandith?" Sayuri said.

"Anyways, they're all Hollow," Ichigo said. Bawabawa cried (if you can call it that. it was more of a roar)

"Don't cry Bawabawa! We'll include you, too!" Pesche said. Then they began to argue about their name again.

"We get it! So would you shut up already?!" Ichigo said. "Let's go." They all jumped on Bawabawa again and continued their journey to Los Noches. Soon they reached the white castle.

"These walls might be a problem," Rukia said. "But they don't seem to be made of Sekkiseki."

"If they're not Sekkiseki, we can break through them, right?" Ichigo said. "Let's go Renji!"

"Since when do I follow your orders?"

xXxXx

Ulquiorra opened the door to Orihime's room. She was wearing the official Arrancar uniform. She gasped when he opened the door.

"There is news," the fourth Espada said. "Your friends have invaded Hueco Mundo." Orihime's eyes widened.

"W-why...?"

"Why? That's obvious. To save you."

"To save me?"

"Correct. However, as of now, that should have no effect on you. Your body and soul now belongs to us. The fact that you're wearing that uniform confirms that you are ours, Inoue Orihime," Ulquiorra said.

"Yes sir..."

"Say it. What purpose do your body and soul have?"

"Their only purpose is for Aizen-sama and his goals," Orihime said in a dull voice.

xXxXx

Ichigo used his getsuga tenshou to create a hole in the wall of the giant building. Debris was scattered everywhere.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?! You could've used the gate if you walked around!" Nel said.

"I don't think they would let us in so easily," Ichigo said. He smiled softly. "Thank you for taking this far, Nel, but if you stay with us any longer you'll become traitors. It's best if you don't come with us. Later!" The five Shinigami, Uryu, and Chad all began to run further into Los Noches.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Nel said. "We're already traitorth! Don't leave Nel, Ichigo!" She started to cry.

'I sorta feel bad for the poor thing,' Sayuri thought. She started slowing down from all the thinking she was doing. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her forward."You're too slow," Toshiro said.

"Toshiro! Let me go! I can run myself!" He sighed.

"You need to relax. Inoue will be just fine. We're going to get her out of here," he said.

"How do you know-"

"It's obvious. You could say it was the look on your face before I left. Besides you looked like you've been thinking ever since we got here." It started to get darker in the hallway they were running down.

"I can't see anything," Sayuri said. Toshiro let go of her wrist to scratch his nose. "Toshiro? Where'd you go?"

"I'm right here," he said from her left. She put her hand out to find him when she hit something. "Ouch! That's my face!"

"Oh, sorry," she said.

"Give me your hand."

"Why?"

"I don't trust you walking around in the dark."

"Gee, thanks," Sayuri said. Toshiro found her hand and pulled her along. "Ichigo? Are you there?"

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"Behind you."

"Just a minute," Renji said. "I think I can fix this. Hadou 31, shakkahou!" A small red light glowed from Renji's hand.

"Wow, I didn't know you were such a low-key guy," Uryu said.

"Shut up!" Soon they all saw a light. They came to the end of the corridor. There was just enough light for them to see each other.

"Guys look!" Sayuri said. Unaware of what she was doing, she lifted the hand Toshiro was holding up to point toward all the different doors. Everyone stopped and looked at the two.

"What's going on here?" Ichigo said. Sayuri instantly snatched her hand away. She blushed a light shade of pink.

"It's not what you think!" She waved her hands in front of her defensively. Toshiro was looking away from Sayuri. His face was about the same as hers.

"Sure it isn't," Renji said sarcastically. Uryu looked away from the group. Jealousy ran through him. He didn't know for sure what was going on between Sayuri and Toshiro, but their relationship made him jealous.

"Anyways, we need to figure out what we're going to do," Toshiro said.

"It really looks like you guys will be parting ways with us," Ichigo said to Nel. "You won't be able to tolerate the reiatsu ahead of us. It's too dangerous."

"There are six paths," Chad said.

"We've got no choice but to start on one end and make our way through," Uryu said.

"Not quite," Rukia said. "We'll all take a different path, and two of us will go down the same one."

"Are you crazy?! That's too dangerous!" Ichigo said.

"Enough of that," Renji said. "Worrying about a warrior's life on the battlefield is an insult."

"Moving together, eh? I understand you're worried about me, but I didn't come here for you to protect me Ichigo!" Rukia said. Ichigo sighed.

"Fine. We'll split up. Sayuri, you and-" he started.

"I'll go," Toshiro and Uryu said at the same time. Sayuri smacked a hand to her forehead. Ichigo put a hand on Uryu's shoulder.

"No offense, Uryu, but I think Sayuri and Toshiro work better together," he said. Uryu pushed his glasses up.

"No problem. I'll go down a different path then."

"Alright! Before we split up, let's do something for good luck. It's a chant that the Gotei 14 used to do before a serious battle. No one uses it now, but I think it's a good idea. Put out your hands!" Renji said as he stuck out his hand. Sayuri gave Ichigo a look as if to say "Is he serious?". Then they all put their hands in. "We are about to head to the battlefield! Believe our blades will not shatter; believe our souls will not be cut! Even if our steps separate, our iron wills remain solid! Promise! Even if the ground may split, we will come back alive to this place!"