#matured form

He’d been too far for her to see before now, but being a closer confirms he looks different. The wings and appearance of Hyourinmaru’s bankai had been an obvious change, but she can’t understand how he’s taller. She forces down the emotions that come and doesn’t put labels to them. She can ask him questions later, when all of this fighting of over and they’e rescued those trapped under the debris. Because they will all make it, she doesn’t dare think of the alternative.

She still can’t make out her friend’s face, but she wonders if he has sensed her and Shinji nearby.

In front of Toshiro, Gerard shuffles away from a sudden strike by Senbonzakura and closer to them, one of his feet completely flattening a building and crushing another in half. The resulting debris goes flying everywhere, with large chunks breaking through surrounding structures.

Momo lets out a staggered breath at the destruction. She clutches her captain’s arm tighter and tries to move faster. In less dire circumstances, she could flash-step while carrying him, but her own injuries impeded her and muscle fatigue is starting to set in. She can’t keep the rising worry out of her voice as she says, “Come on, Captain. We’ll end up getting caught in this.”

He tries to put a foot forward, but he slips, sending them both to the ground. He mumbles out a curse and an apology, but Momo doesn’t hear it over the destruction. She tries to focus on helping her captain up and not on the shadow that’s fallen over them and surrounding area. They’re within range of an attack. They can’t escape him now.

New plan, Momo decides. She settles her captain down against a piece of debris, trying to be gentle but ending up hurried. She ignores his string of curses and his attempt to clutch his head, instead straightening up and throwing her hands up in front of her. Most of her view of the sky is obstructed by Gerard. She can’t ignore her racing heart or the cold panic that runs up her spine. Hastily, she chants out the highest barrier kido she can cast. After the last phrase of the incantation, an iridescent dome forms over her and Shinji. It’s the strongest barrier she can conjure up, and suitable for the worst case scenario where they’re buried under debris; if nothing else, they’d have to wait until someone found them.

She attempts to control her breathing, but when the giant twists in her direction, she can only gasp. Without thinking, she looks to Toshiro. He’s looking at her. She can’t make out his features, but his posture is tense.

Behind him, a hand is sweeping towards him.

“Look out!” she screams.

Toshiro barely turns in time to see what is coming for him. He flings himself away and slashes Hyourinmaru in the air, sending a cascade of ice that encases most of Gerard’s arm and freezing it to the building he’d just been standing on. The giant lets out a roar as he tries to free his limb, and it shakes the area all around them, making smaller bits of debris vibrate and tumble down accumulating piles. Some of it hits up against the barrier, sending ripples through the surface, but it remains stable. Senbonzakura cuts the Quincy off, slashing and digging into the side of his head. Gerard bats the petals away with his free hand, scattering them in all directions.

So caught up in watching the fight, Momo yelps when Toshiro lands on the other side of the barrier in front of her and Shinji.

“You need to move!”

She doesn’t have time to be shocked by the change in his voice – however slight it is – or the fact he’s suddenly a grown adult. Being in his presence freezes her, causes her fingertips to go cold and her whole body to shiver.

“W-We can’t,” she stutters out. “C-Captain Hirako i-is…” Knowing she can’t get the words out quick enough, she gestures to Shinji.

Toshiro’s gaze flashes to his fellow captain, and he cringes. “Damn it.”

There’s another thunderous roar, causing Momo and Toshiro to look back to the battle. All the air leaves Momo as the Gerard’s hand sweeps down to the buildings in front of them. They’re destroyed one by one in seconds. Her whole vision is filled with a cascade of falling debris, coming towards her and casting darker shadows over everything. Her hearing is deafened up the sounds of small pieces bouncing off the barrier and the crushing of the debris about to fall on her.

Yet somehow, despite how fast it’s all happening, she thinks of Toshiro, in harm’s way.

Without a second thought she lunges to him, intending to pull him into the barrier. The moment her hands come out of the barrier and are centimetres from grabbing the back of his uniform, they burn. She barely registers the ice forming and crawling up her fingertips as she loses her footing. She screams, but she’s not sure if it’s from the burning cold or that Toshiro is about to be crushed.

“SHIRO!”

And then it all stops.

As she topples, Momo's widened eyes take in everything. One second, the debris is falling, and the next, it’s all suspended midair.

Her arms land outside of the barrier but the rest of her remains within. Her palms smack hard against the now frozen ground. She gasps at the cold. “H-How…?”

She whips her head back up, and time stills. No, she hadn’t been seeing things. All of the debris is frozen in ice. In her peripheral, every piece and chunk has been entrapped by the ice, and formed what looked like a massive cresting wave frozen in time. Most of the ground remains untouched, expect for a jagged circle of ice around Toshiro. Thankfully, it hadn’t gotten inside of or on the barrier; she doesn’t think to question why that is, too shocked by what just happened.

A crunching footstep makes her shift her gaze back to Toshiro. He’d had his hand raised, but he now returns it to his side. Hyourinmaru thrums with power, and if she weren’t already on her knees, she’s certain the way his reiatsu flares would make her double over under its pressure. She’s on verge of breaking out in a sweat and her stomach clenches with the threat of nausea. The muscles in her limbs cease, making her rigid, and threatening to buckle under the pressure.

“Hinamori!” Toshiro crouches and starts to reach for her, but stops himself. He winces, regret briefly flashing through his eyes before concern returns. “Are you all right?”

She manages a stiff nod, because as the shock starts to wear off, it finally hits her. He had done this. He’d frozen falling debris into a towering wall of jagged ice with a wave of his hand. He’d been standing there as the wreckage and destruction fell towards them, knowing he could stop it all.

Her awe is outdone by something she never expected to feel towards him. It grips her in a tight hold, causing her heart race again and tremors to break out across her limbs. She keeps her still widened eyes on him and tries to speak, but only stammers come out.

His wings arc around and over the barrier, protective. “What’s going on?”

Something about the action briefly reminds her of the Toshiro it knows. “Y-Your reia-atsu!”

His expression twists for a second, then he looks to the ground. “I’m not flaring it.”

This is his normal reiatsu now? When had it changed this much? No, it must the creeping exhaustion, it’s wearing her down to the point his reiatsu is affecting her. But what if that isn’t it? How can he be this powerful? What is this power? When had he acquired it? Why is he an adult?

“Hinamori, snap out of it!”

The order makes her flinch. She’s struggling to regain her breath and she can only stare at him.

“What’re you…?” He glances down at her hands and does a double take. “When did you touch me?”

She’d completely forgotten about the ice encasing her fingers. Now the cold returns, dangerously close to piercing her to the bone. “I-I didn’t.”

His leans forward. “Let me see --”

On a reflex, draws her hands back into the barrier and she pushes herself away, clutching her them to her chest. Clutching them, some of the ice breaks off and falls away. She didn’t realize she’d half turned from him until his frown vanishes, his brows rising in bewilderment. She wants to say this is all because of the intense cold emanating off of him, but it’s not.

“I was reaching for you,” she says, her voice nearly sounding meek. “You were focused on the debris, you didn’t see.” Behind him, the wave looms over them. He’d created it with a wave of his hand. She shakes her head. “How is any of this possible?”

Something breaks in him, causing his eyes to widen and a strangled sound to escape him. His lips are parted, but nothing else comes out. He’s completely still, even the rise and fall of shoulders and chest ceases. Momo can’t register what he’s feeling, too caught up in trying to understand her own.

It’s as he’s frozen along with the wave. His gaze eventually falls to Hyourinmaru, hiding his eyes under his fringe. Something about the movement is vulnerable, and she wants to say something, but nothing comes to mind. “Hitsugaya-kun…”

His grip on his zanpakuto suddenly tightens, and he sweeps his head back up. Gone is the vivid emotions from before, and in it’s place he puts on the air he uses for training new recruits. “I’ll explain later. Protect Hirako, and when he’s ready, you need to get as far away from here as you can.”

Without another word, Toshiro stands. Some of the ice on the ground cracks when he kicks off with a powerful flap of his wings. Something about that tugs on Momo’s mind, but she ignores is as watches Toshiro soar through the sky and back into the fight, effortlessly dodging the Quincy’s attacks and conjuring ice in a blink of an eye. This attack is more vicious than any of the others, the ice coming out as more of a stab than a wave. It pierces Gerard and forces him away from the area. His shadow disappears over her and Shinji.

The ground shakes around her, helping her come out of her shock. Toshiro and Byakuya are forcing the enemy away, she can resume healing her captain and then getting him to safety.

She brushes and shakes the ice off her finger tips. The fragments fall into her lap and melt into her uniform. She curls her fingers several times, trying to rid the stiffness and chill from them.

Keeping the barrier up, she casts a healing kido over the last of Shinji’s injuries. He’s awake still, and more conscious than before.

“Who the fuck was that?” he mumbles.

Her voice is caught in her throat, but she forces out, “T-That was Captain Hitsugaya, sir.”

Shinji’s frown deepens. “Shit…when did his reiatsu get that big?”

If he had been more aware and awake at the time, she wonders how he’d have reacted to seeing Toshiro in this adult form and with these powers. Would he have been as shocked as her? Would he have been fearful too?

That fear lingers as she glances over her shoulder at the frozen wall of debris. Even when she was still recovering in Twelfth Division after he had been tricked into stabbing her, she was never been anywhere near this fearful of him.

She continues to stew on it as she heals her captain, then as she brings the barrier down, and as they stand to move off and find somewhere safe.

With Shinji more conscious, she gets her answer to at least one of the questions she had from before.

 “How the hell did he do that?!” Shinji half yells, widened eyes taking in the frozen towering wall of debris. His gaze sweeps down the wave, then lands on the battle happening the far-off distance when multiple sheets of ice conjure up in thin air and strike Gerard. “What kind of power is that?” He looks to her. “Did you know about this?”

She shakes her head.

That makes Shinji raise a brow. “Thought he’d tell you of all people."

Maybe that’s what scares her more than the powers themselves. She knew he was training in caves somewhere in the Soul Society, but she never really asked about his progress. If this was the result of his training, how had he kept something so powerful under wraps? 

“Hitsu – Captain Hitsugaya rarely speaks to anyone about his training,” she explains. “I imagine Rangiku-san knew about this though.”

“Yeah, she’d have to.”

Shinji steps over a particularly large piece of debris. Momo tries to do the same, but ends up losing her footing. Shinji is quick to grab her by the arms, steadying her. He grimaces as he helps her right herself up.

“I-I’m sorry, Captain,” she says.

He releases her and grips his right side. It’s an internal injury, one that Momo can’t fully heal.

“Just stay focused,” he advises. “It’s a lot, I know, but we can’t get hung up on the small things…Well in this case, it’s not a small thing, but you get the idea.” He jerks his chin in the direction of where there’s still whole buildings and structures. “You can ask him about it later. Pretty sure we’d all be curious about how he came to be like this. Now come on.”

She nods and takes the lead. “Yes, of course, sir.”

They walk on in silence, but Momo wishes they were still talking. She tries to put it all aside, to focus on finding somewhere safe for her and Shinji, but it continuous to circle around and around in her mind.

The fact he could simply freeze anything he wanted to with a wave of his hand is frightening even of itself, but it’s not the only thing that makes her fearful. Combining them with a situation as dire as falling debris that seemingly couldn’t be stopped, in a form she has never seen him in and the fact she never knew he was capable of wielding such powers, it put a leaden weight in the pit of her stomach.

Was this how the children in the Rukongai felt towards him? Had he seen that same fear in her just now?

She thinks back on his reaction, on the emotions flashing across his eyes. It was a vulnerable look, one that was equal parts shock and confusion, and something else. Something that makes her bite the inside of her cheek, hard.

Her reflection is interrupted by a confused grunt from her captain.

“Captain what’s…?” She returns her focus to the battle, a long, safe distance away now. Even so, she can see why her captain is bewildered. The giant’s flesh seemingly falls apart as he tips inexplicably forward. More buildings are destroyed under the weight of his bones.

“What the --?” Shinji begins, but then Gerard’s flesh, now brighter beams, flies towards the top of the Palace.

“Must be Yhwach’s doing,” he mutters with a grimace. “Does this mean he’s winning?”

“It can’t be…” The possibility has always been real, but despite the odds stacked against then, Momo believed to her core that they would secure a victory over the Quincy.

“I can’t sense Ichigo,” Shinji says through clenched teeth. “What the fuck’s going on up there?”

“We should go and help them, sir,” she suggests.

He shakes his head. “We’d be useless the way we are now.” He takes in a deep breath, the  continues. “That kid isn’t weak. He always gets back up, no matter gets thrown at him. If he’s got Lieutenants Kuchiki and Abarai going to help, he’ll be fine.”

It sounds as if he’s trying to convince himself, but Momo nods. “They’re both strong.” She looks back to where the battle had been. She reaches out her senses, extending them beyond her usual limit. She clenches her fist as it begins to become too much. Just that little bit further…

She let’s out a relieved breath. “I can still sense them there. They don’t seem gravely injured.”

“At least that’s something.” He gestures to the piles of debris all around them. “In the meantime, I reckon we can start to look for Hiyori and the others. Their still alive, but they’ll need healing. Reckon you’re up for it.”

“Yes, Captain.”

They walk quickly over and between the ruins, following the faint traces of Hiyori, Love, Hachi, and Lisa’s reiatsu. Momo eyes Shinji’s injuries with concern after ten minutes of searching; aside from slow him down, they could reopen.

“Sir, maybe you should --”

Fast footsteps echo around them, bouncing off the piles of debris and still standing walls. If it weren’t for the reiatsu accompanying them, Momo would’ve had her hand on Tobiume in an instant.

Shinji grins. “Sure took their sweet time getting to us, huh?”

“With all of this wreckage in the way, it’s amazing they found us at all,” Momo says.

Byakuya appears from around a hill of debris, and stops when he spots them. It’s the most tattered looking Momo has ever seen him; even his tekko are coming apart at the seams and smeared with dirt and blood.

A movement from behind the captain distracts her, and her heart shudders when she sees Toshiro. He’s slouched over, the buttons of his coat done up in the wrong order and a sweat gleams on his brow. He’s exhausted, perhaps on the verge of fainting. But more than that, he’s himself again.

“We sensed you nearby,” Byakuya says, but she doesn’t turn her attention to him.

“Nice to see you too,” Shinji snarks. “You aren’t looking too good. You need my lieutenant to heal you? She ain’t Fourth Division, but she’s still good.”

Byakuya raises a hand as he comes over to his fellow captain. “There’s no need.”

Shinji jerks his chin in the direction of where their fight against Gerard had taken place. “What happened over there? Doesn’t look like you two took him out.”

Toshiro raises his head and begins to follow Byakuya, but freezes and straightens when his gaze meets Momo’s. His lips part, but nothing comes out of them. Momo swallows, also wanting to say something but nothing comes to mind. Her fear has tampered down. Perhaps it’s because he’s back to looking like how she knows him. It didn’t mean he was the same not after what she saw. Her heart tightens again, and she’s not sure what her expression is.

His lips close into a taut line, his frown deepens, and his eyes flicker away, returning seconds later only to look away again. His grip on Hyourinmaru tightens, and he pulls the zanpakuto behind himself, mostly out of view. His coat flaps as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, then half turns away from her.

This all went unnoticed by Shinji and Byakuya, who continue to discuss the battle and their next moves, but for Momo it’s all she can see.

The way his gaze wavers, the stiffness in his posture, the way Hyourinmaru trembles from the pressure of his grip. He’s suddenly so uncertain, so unsure what to do. She unknowningly stakes a few staggering steps towards him. As she does, from beneath his fringe his gaze briefly flickers to her, and he flinches. Her heart fractures, and for a beat she loathes herself.

He was hurt. She had hurt him.

How could she be fearful of him?

When he starts to turn from her, she scrambles up to a run. Her guilt is immense, enough to bring tears to her eyes. She thinks to apologise as she makes her way to him, but she’s conscious of the captains’ stares.

It’s not the only reason she runs to him, she realises. It’s that he made it. He’s alive, and he’s not physically hurt as far as she can tell.

He hadn’t even noticed her coming, head hanging low and hunched body half turned from her. She slows her steps as she nears him. “Hitsugaya-kun,” she says softly.

He whips his head to her, and she closes the gap between them. Without hesitation, she brings arms around him. He goes more rigid and a choked sound comes from his lips. He hug isn’t tight, easily breakable if he wants to step away from her.

She trembles. He’s freezing, but it doesn’t burn her.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she rambles. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Please don’t go.”

Eventually, his rigidity softens. “You were afraid,” he whispers hoarsely.

She pulls back. “I didn’t mean to react the way I did. I was confused, I didn’t know how you became like that, that’s all.” She can’t repress a sob. “I thought you were about to get crushed, but then you just…froze everything. It’s an incredible power, unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

His eyes are wide, hopeful and desperately wanting to believe what she’s saying. He almost looks like the child she’d befriended decades ago. She raises her hands to his shoulders and squeezes them.

“But this isn’t about me,” she continues. “I hurt you, and I’m so sorry. Y-You don’t have to tell me about that power, I’ll understand if you choose not to. I’m just glad you’re okay.” A tear falls from the corner of her eye. The war might still be going on, but behind the guilt, she relieved they’d made it through that battle.

“I should’ve told you what I was going to do back there.”

“Huh?”

“When the debris was falling, I should’ve told you what I was going to do. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

She could almost laugh; it’s somehow absurd to her that he’d say something like that. “You know as well as I do in the heat of battle there are moments where we can’t go over strategy.” She gives him a soft smile. “Besides, even if you had told me, I still think I would’ve worried.”

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he whispers, “I’d never…” He quickly shuts his mouth, considering his next words. There was a slight desperation to his tone. It’s like someone desperately pleading with another to not think differently of them, and it’s so strange to see and hear this coming form him.

However, when he speaks again, it’s more neutral. “What you saw before was Hyourinmaru’s Completed Form. I can’t tell you about it now, but believe me, I will once this is over.”

How she desperately wants to know, but she nods. “I understand.” She lowers her hands back to her sides and gestures to a piece of debris next to them. “You should rest for now. You’re not injured, are you?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing serious.”

“But still –”

“You’ll have to heal those still underneath the wreckage, right?” He gingerly lowers himself to sit on the debris, using Hyourinmaru to keep his balance. “And if not them, then you’ll need all you can get to fight any enemies left. Save your strength.”

She wants to argue, but he’s right. She sighs. “All right.” Then, she bows. "I should've said this earlier, but thank you for saving Captain Hirako and I earlier. If not for you, we would've also been under the debris." She rises. "I'll check with my Captain and Captain Kuchiki on what our next move is."

She is about to go, but Toshiro’s voice, louder, than before, stops her.

“Hinamori...I didn’t tell you before because…” Toshiro shuts his eyes and his frown returns. He breathes in deeply, then silently out. "I didn't deliberately mean to hide something like this from you, or anyone, but it's...Those powers aren't mean to harm you, or anyone else other than enemies of the Soul Society. I'm still learning to control them, thought I had, but clearly I still need to..."

He's struggling, whether it's to find the right words or from fighting off exhaustion Momo can't tell.

She raises her hands. “It’s okay, we can discuss this later, like you said. The truth is, you didn't have to tell anyone if you didn't want to. I'm sorry if I came across as demanding to know why and how you got your new powers.” She kneels down to his level. "I also know you wouldn't hurt me, or any of us, if you can help it. If anyone can get a full grasp on their zanpakuto abilities, it's you, Hitsugaya-kun."

He let's out a shuddered breath, then bows his head. "It's 'Captain Hitsugaya', and you don't have to keep apologising. I just wanted you to know that anyway."

She can sense he wants to say more, so she waits.

“I don’t like that form, but I use it when I have to.” He raises his eyes to hers again. “If I were to use it again, how would you feel?”

The question makes her heart stammer. “W-Wha….What does it matter how I feel about it? You’re the one who uses it, and if you’ll need to use it, then –”

“It does.”

His conviction, in his voice and in his eyes, bewilders her. Why did he feel strongly about this? Is he worried he will frighten her again? Hadn’t she made it clear before this wouldn’t be the case?

She blinks as she gives her answer. “It would still be you, Hitsugaya-kun. I may have been afraid before, but I won’t be again.” She shrugs. “As is, there were various things that contributed to my feelings at the time, not just your powers or that form.”

Toshiro’s eyes shine with something she can’t quite place. It returns him to how she knows him, and the last of vulnerability vanishes from him. It might be that power he'd demonstrated, swirling beneath the surface of his eyes, but there's a warmth to it.

When she’d tried to land after being flung away by a Huge Hollow, she’d stuck her leg out behind her to try and land, but her foot gave way and skidded in the dirt until she came to a stop.

With gritted teeth, forces herself to stand, trying to keep her leg as straight as possible while stabbing Tobiume into the ground for leverage. She tries not to focus on the internal worried cries of her zanpakuto, she barely has the time to reassure her.

 “Lieutenant!”

Her seventeenth seat, Tomoko Suzuki, is backing from the clearing towards her, not turning away from the Huge Hollow they were battling against. The Hollow stands tall on two legs, its head the same height as the trees that surround them, and its shadow now falls over them as it stalks forward. Two of its over-long arms clutch the trunks of two trees as it leans forward. Its focus isn’t on Suzuki anymore, but on Momo.

She lets go of Tobiume, clasps both hands together, and raises them at the Hollow as yellow energy engulfs them. “Bakudo Four: Hainawa!”

The crackling rope flies from her arms and wraps itself around the Hollow’s torso. She cringes when only three of the four limbs became entangled in the kido, but she still turns to Suzuki.

“Suzuki-san, now!” she orders.

Without question, Suzuki releases her zanpakuto while lunging forward. She slashes at the Hollow’s legs, and with a wail it falls to its knees. She has no time to strike again when its one free limb swings at her. She just barely manages to dodge it by flash-stepping backwards.

“How long does the numbing last?” Momo asks.

“A minute,” Suzuki replies, now at her side. “But this isn’t a regular Hollow, so I don’t know.” She clutches Momo’s underarm, helping her to stand, and starts scanning the area. “How bad is your injury? We have to get you to…”

Momo frowns at her officer, who is staring wide eyed over her shoulder. She follows her gaze and gasps. She and Hirako had cast a long range concealment kido that covered the area in an invisible dome. It made it that the residents of the nearby town were none the wiser to the battle taking place. It must be weakening, because in the far distance there are a few humans standing at the edge of the forest, looking in. If they come any closer –

A howl brings their attention back to the Huge Hollow. It breaks free of Hainawa, the yellow energy ripped into disintegrating shreds as the Hollow falls forward and lands on its two lower arms.

“Shit!” Suzuki curses when its legs start to twitch make into motion. “Not even thirty seconds!”

Momo pulls Tobiume out of the ground and aims. “Snap, Tobiume!”

The fireball that shoots out collides with the Huge Hollow’s head, causing it to fling back and stumble a few steps away. Knowing it won’t be enough, Momo uses her free hand to starts drawing the symbols for Genki. Red energy emits from her fingertips as she chants “Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw --!”

With a roar The Hollow suddenly rises to its feet and charges at them, jaws wide and arms raised for attack. Momo shouts when Suzuki goes to meet it head on, about to order her to fall back.

Something blue and white falls behind it, and with it comes the sound of a blade stabbing through flesh. The tip of a zanpakuto shoots out from its collarbone. The Huge Hollows halts, eyes wide and its mouth agape. It doesn’t move, doesn’t even breathe, as if paralyzed in fear.

Suzuki skids to a stop, watching on with the same shock and bewilderment as Momo. Without warning, ice crackles and rapidly spreads out, covering the entire Hollow and the ground it stands on. No, the Hollow isn’t being covered in ice; the green and grey colours of its skin and yellow in its eyes have completely disappeared. It is frozen through to the bone.

The zanpakuto withdraws, and the sound it makes is as it were being drawn out of something solid rather than pulpy and living. Within seconds, cracks web from the blade had stabbed through, and the Hollow breaks into chunks.

Even before the last of the ice cracks apart, Momo knows who landed on the ground behind the remains of the Hollow. She clings to a nearby tree with a pained grunt, and it’s only when she looks up again that she sees Toshiro is rushing to her.

She fumbles out his name without realising as he nears. She’s seen him in Hyourinmaru’s Completed Form before – after Gerard had been defeated and he and Byakuya came to look for her and Shinji – but it still stuns her. Unlike that time, the ice that encases his arms and legs continue up underneath his shihakuso, his haori comes to just above his knee, and the sleeves remain almost the same length but the hakama come up mid-shin. He’s caked in dirt, his haori and drooping hair barely white, and there’s a chunk of mud hanging on his brow. Her concern for the latter must show, because he uses a clean patch of his uniform to wipe away the mud smeared on his face and neck. If it weren’t for their current situation, she might have found it funny how shrunk and dirty his uniform looks.

Face now relatively clean, he looks over, lips parting to say something but his eyes narrow at her ankle. He bends over to inspect it. “How bad is it?” he asks, his voice a few octaves deeper.

She tentatively flexes her foot back and it’s all the answer she needs. “Not good. I don’t know if I’ve sprained it, but I don’t think I can walk on it.”

He curses under his breath. “You won’t be able to flash-step with it.”

He looks back into the clearing, where several Shinigami are battling numerous Huge Hollows less than a yard away from them. It’s then she notices what he left in his wake: at least seven Huge Hollows were frozen through and broken apart just like the one he’d just taken down; some were in chunks, others had a part of them still standing. She knows one can get caught up in the heat of battle, but how hadn’t she noticed him fighting behind the Huge Hollow that was attacking her?

Now that she looks beyond the ice and through the sheets of rain, she recognizes a few of her division members, two of them rushing to the next clearing while one them finishes off a Hollow, cutting it through the mask. He too rushes to the adjacent clearing, dodging a Hollow’s fist along the way. The Hollow pursues, and it’s not the only one following them. Shinigami all across the battlefield are retreating with Huge Hollows following close behind.

Momo’s brows furrow. “What’s going on?”

 Ice begins to form above Toshiro’s shoulder blades, drawing in some of the falling rain to become part of a set of wide, dragon-like wings. “There’s no time to explain it all, but everyone needs to head to the construction site right now.” Toshiro turns his attention back to her. “I’ll take you back.”

Momo goes to ask how, but then he holds out his arms. “What about Hyourinmaru? You can’t sheath your zanpakuto while you’re like this.”

“It’ll be fine, I can hold onto him while carrying you.” He turns to Suzuki, who up until this point had been slow to join them and only stared on in muted shock. "Do you have any injuries that'd prevent you from flash-stepping?"

She shakes her head.

“You know where the site is from here?”

She nods.

“Head there, you’ll meet up with the others. There will be a lot of Hollows, but it’s part of a plan. I wouldn't advise flash-stepping on the ground, it's too densely packed back there. Move through the trees if you can."

“Y-Yes, sir.” Then she looks to Momo, as if seeking approval for this set of orders.

It’s only then Momo notices that one of Suzuki’s glasses lenses are cracked, there’s the faint bruise forming on her temple just beneath a smudge of mud, and a shallow graze along her jaw. Considering this is her first mission facing Huge Hollows, she’s relatively unscathed compared to some of the other officers who had fought these types of Hollows before.

Momo gives a wobbly smile. “You’ve done well, Suzuki-san. Get going.”

Her seventeenth seat nods, then takes off in a sprint and leaps into a nearby tree.

Momo commands Tobiume back to her sealed state and sheathes her at her hip. “Before we get going, I’ll need to stop the bleeding.”

“We don’t have time.” Even as he says this, Toshiro looks conflicted.

Momo goes to reach into her shihakusho for the spare bandage she keeps on her for battles, but stops when Toshiro squats down, hand raised over her wound. “It’s only a temporary measure. You can break it off easily.”

Momo already knows what he intends to do, and seeing the urgency in their situation, she nods her consent. A small brush of cold encases her ankle and there’s a burst of cold that pierces beneath her skin. She clenches her teeth together but it does nothing to stop her strained grunt and instinctively shuddering away from him. She glances down; a very thin layer of ice encases the wound, so thin it’s almost barely perceptible, but it did stop her bleeding.

Before she can turn back to Toshiro, his arm comes around her shoulder and he's bent over with his opposite arm coming under her knees. She tries and fails to prevent a wince from coming out when he carefully lifts her. For her part she wraps her arms around his neck, trying to find something to hold on to that wasn’t the ice encasing his shoulders and the back of his neck, or the wings she only now just realised were not actually connected to him but instead floating a few inches away from his shoulders. She ends up grabbing on to the back of his haori.

He hoists her a little higher, angling his right arm in such a way that he holds her using his elbow and upper arm rather than his forearm and hand, allowing him to still hold Hyourinmaru upright. It also makes it that she’s closer to the side of his face. Again, if not for the situation and his injuries, she’d probably laugh at how he’s carrying her…or maybe blush, or both.

“This okay?” he asks without looking at her. There’s something resolute about him, but she isn’t sure if it’s regarding the situation ahead of them or to not turn his head and accidentally knock his head into hers.

“Y-Yeah,” she confirms. “It’s fine like this.”

It’s then she notices the thin sheen of ice covering cuts and abrasions on his temple, cheek, and jaw, and the  beads of rain that are frozen on the edge his jawline and collarbones. It’s no wonder there’s ice on his face; he’s freezing, and she has to raise her reiatsu just to not shiver. It reminds her of the air around them, how cold it’d become.

That’s when it hits her. The air wouldn’t have just changed here, but also in the town. And that meant… “Wait!”

Toshiro completely stops, eyes wide in alarm. He glances at her leg.

She shakes her head and points to the edge of the forest, where the humans still are. They’d gotten a few steps closer, with one of them shouting over their shoulder to the other. It’s faint, but she can make out “…sounds like howling…”

“What should we do about them?” she asks. “They might…”

“When we get to the site, this battle will be over quickly. During clean up, recast the spell with Hirako.” He tilts his head upwards. "Speaking of, that concealment kido you cast earlier, how high is it?"

"It's designed to conceal aerial objects that are three yards up from the ground."

Toshiro thinks for a moment, tilts his head to the sky and gives his wings a flap. It only then it dawns on Momo what he intends to do. “W-Wait, we’re not going to fly, are we?”

She leans her head back just in time as he gives her a bewildered look. “How else did you think we’d get there? I can’t flash-step through the trees while carrying you.”

Momo holds on to him a little tighter. “A-All right then.”

If she didn’t know him as well as she did, she would mistake the determination that hardens his eyes for anger. “I won’t let you fall.”

How did his voice get even deeper? Something about it made his words seem like a solemn vow, one that couldn’t be broken by any force in the Soul Society or World of the Living. She presses her lips together, but nods.

With that, he strides to the edge of the clearing. As he nears, his walk turns into a run, and just as the world around them is becoming a blur, he kicks off.

They’re airborne in less than five seconds. Momo shuts her eyes and muffles her yelp into his shoulder as frigid air thrashes around them, whipping loose strands of hair around her face. The rain has lessened, but the drops that pelt down on them are freezing. Her heart pounds against her chest and in her ears.

She trusts him. That thought alone is enough to make her open her eyes and lift her head back. At first, she’s mesmerized by his wings, watching them alternate between flapping and soaring. How he ever learned how to fly is beyond her, but he makes it look like the most natural and easiest thing in the world. But then she looks down and is suddenly out of breath. “Oh my--!”

“Did no one ever tell you to not look down?” Toshiro yells over the wind.

She can’t tell if he’s teasing her or chastising her, but either way she glowers at him, “I don’t exactly go flying every day, Shiro-chan!”

He’s about to retort back when a chorus of howls comes from below. Hollows are everywhere, chasing after Shinigami who as all running the same direction. Some with projectile-based shikai stop to attack the Hollows gaining on their comrades before continuing their retreat. If she could free one hand right now without the risk of upsetting their balance, Momo could shoot kido down upon the Hollows as well.

“Maybe now would be a good time to tell me your plan!” she advises. “Why is everyone retreating?”

Toshiro’s eyes narrow. “I’m going to use Shikai Hyoketsu.”

She tenses. She hadn’t seen the power up close, but he’d explained it to her. However, seeing the hordes of Hollows below, she can understand why he would think to use it.

“I can’t predict how far it will reach,” he continues, “but at the construction site, there’s a place for everyone to hide in.”

Momo thinks for a moment, trying to remember what was at the site. There’s a crane and a few other vehicles, an massive incomplete factory building held up by steel frames and covered in some parts by tarp, various beams and pipes lay stacked up around -- She gasps when she realises. “Those long cylinders?”

He nods. “It’d say get into the structure, but it’s not enclosed. At least with those pipes everyone can gather in the middle, away from the ends.”

“But what about the surrounding trees? Won’t they be caught up in your attack? If the humans notice some of the trees are gone…”

“I’m going to try and keep my power concentrated in just one area.” He glances at her. “Truth is, this is all a risk, but the battle wasn’t turning in our favor.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Even before she’d been knocked away the Huge Hollow, she could tell the injured had outnumbered those still able to fight. This battle had been hard on him too; the fact he’d transformed was evidence enough of that, but maybe it’s just as well he had.

Despite the elements thrashing against her right now and the pain flaring up in her ankle, she manages a stable, sincere smile. “You’ve been training in this form a lot, right? Before, you didn't want others touching you while you're like this in case you froze them, but you've clearly trained enough for that to not be a problem anymore. If you think you can do it, I’m sure you’ll be able to!”

His lips part at that, but nothing comes out. He looks away when a shadow of a smirk forms on his lips. He says something, but with the roaring wind and rain, she can barely hear him. “Always the same, even in times like this.”

The site comes into view. Huge Hollows are cramming large clearing in front of it, some even crushing tree trunks in their wake. They’re only being held back by a line of eight Shinigami standing in front of the tall fence surrounding the site – five using their shikai abilities, and two others trying to maintain a barrier kido cast all around the site that is on the verge of dissipating. She senses before she spots Shinji at the front of the line, using Sakanade to disorientate the Hollows. He aims his attack at a group of Hollows trying to get around the side, and they’re sent fumbling back to the rest of the horde after he shoots a Hado spell at them. Those not part of the line are leaping over the fence and sprinting to the cylinders to get inside one of them.

When Toshiro tightens his hold on her, Momo knows what’s coming next.

“As soon as you’re on the ground, I’m going to the front,” he warns as her world starts to dip downwards.

She grunts in acknowledgement and loops her arms tighter around him. Bringing his wings closer to his back, the descent is fast. Momo presses her lips together to stop from screaming – more from the pain in her ankle than from fright. Her skin burns from the cold and she’s forced to squint her eyes.

Shinji’s head whips up to them, and as soon as he sees them, he yells orders up and down the line. One of the Shinigami breaks away from the line and looks up at them as he rushes to the cylinders – Higuchi, Fifth Division’s seventh seat, Momo realises.

Toshiro angles himself to land, feet out first and wings flaring back. Momo involuntarily closes her eyes and tucks her head into Toshiro. Before she knows it however, the rush of air has stopped and everything is still. They’ve landed.

She lifts her head and gasps for air, only just realising she’d been holding her breath the entire descent.

“You all right?” Toshiro asks.

She starts to answer, but her voice gets caught in throat. To her left not even a yard away, the Huge Hollows are being held off, and to her right Shinigami, many injured, are being helped into the two cylinders.

Higuchi is rushing to them, calling out to her. She nods at Toshiro, who takes it as a sign to lower her to the ground. He tilts her, gingerly putting her feet towards the ground. Momo touches her good foot to the mud and keeps the other hovering. She grimaces when she straightens and holds her arm out to her subordinate. Toshiro doesn’t let her go until Higuchi is completely supporting her.

She’s about to wish Toshiro luck and tell him to stay safe, but he’s gone in a flash-step.

“Suzuki-san told us it was bad,” Higuchi says while taking her to the cylinders. “Don’t worry, Lieutenant, we’ll get it healed now.”

It’s then Momo thinks to look down at her ankle. The ice had broken apart, and what few shards remained were becoming slushy with the rain that pelted down on them.

Only a few steps from the cylinder, she makes out silhouettes of officers gathered in the middle of it in a line. Their hushed voices echo out, most speaking rapidly and over one another.

She startles when Shinji flash-steps in front of her. “Captain!”

He barely glances at her, instead twisting around, half stepping into the cylinder and yelling down it, “Oi, we’ve got a sprained ankle down here!”

“I actually don’t know if it's sprained, sir.”

He leans to her and whispers, “You want to get this thing healed or not?”

“There might be worst injuries that need to be attended to.”

“Nah, from what they told me at the front, aside from you the worst has been Yamazaki with a broken arm, but he’s got one of Fourth Division with him, and Furakawa had a head injury but that’s been healed up.” He gets into the cylinder and holds out his hands. “Now come on, I’ll help ya in.”

Higuchi holds on to Momo as she plants her good foot inside. The cylinder is wide enough for most to stay standing – if she could jump, she still wouldn’t be able to quite reach the top. With a hand on one of the curved wall, she shuffles in two steps, and then Shinji takes over, bending over slightly and slinging her arm over his shoulders. After Momo thanks him, Higuchi rushes off to the other cylinder.

Now that she’s out of the rain, she realizes just how sodden she is. Her uniform is stuck to her, and the loose strands of hair – somehow miraculously managing to mostly stay in a bun – are stuck to her neck and forehead. At the first jitter that quakes through her, she raises her reiatsu higher.

“Getting toasty,” Shinji teases. “Good thing too, maybe you can dry everyone off in here.”

If she weren’t in pain, Momo isn’t sure whether she’d laugh or voice the indignant quip Tobiume says in her mind.

Hasty footsteps echo up the pipe, along with even more hasty apologies along the way. Momo almost manages a grin; it’s been a while since she last saw Hanataro.

Shinji lowers her to sit a several meters away from the pipe’s entrance. By the time he straightens, Hanataro has reached them. “Captain Hirako, you’re hurt –”

“Got the patient right here,” Shinji says while jerking his chin at Momo.

Hanataro hesitates for a second, then kneels down at Momo’s side. “Lieutenant Hinamori,” he says in way of greeting.

“It’s good to see you, Yamada-kun,” Momo says.

Only a little light makes it towards the middle, but it’s enough for him to examine her leg. “I don’t think it’s sprained, but it’s definitely a deep wound. How did you get it?”

As Momo explains, the Shinigami she’d seen on the frontline flash-step past. Shinji, who had sat behind Hanataro, goes rigid. “Shit, he must be about to start.” Down the cylinder he shouts, “Suzuki, Kobe, set up the kido now!”

Momo watches Suzuki’s silhouette hurry down to one end while Kobe comes up to her end. Both of them are trying to avoid stepping on the legs of all the officers who try to make way for them.

Her attention is brought back to Hanatro when raises his hands over her wound. “This may hurt at first, but only for a few seconds.”

With a short chant, the teal glow comes over her injury. She hisses when pain shoots up from her ankle and all the way up her leg, but just as Hantaro said, it dulls away almost just as quickly. In its place is the usual tingling that came with these spells that mellows into a calm pulsing sensation. Both she and Shinji watch the raw red patch over itself, and then her skin gradually knitting back together.

At the sound of a kido being cast, Momo looks from end of the cylinder to other. Kobe and Suzuki each back away from the orange barrier they’d cast. Both go back to where they’d been sitting, with Kobe giving Momo sympathetic look along the way.

“Hitsugaya told me what his power does,” Shinji says when she looks to him for an explanation. “Thought it’d best to be cautious. Matsumoto should’ve done the same in hers too.”

Now that pain and urgency don’t have a hold on her, she can sense Rangiku in the cylinder next to theirs. Her reiatsu is stable, she mustn’t have been injured – or at least, not severely.

In faint light and the teal glow of the healing kido on her end, she finally notices the wounds of nearby Shinigami. There are two more glows down the line, one in front of Yamazaki and another in front of an officer she didn’t recognize.

Closer by though, her captain has a long scratch that stretches from the middle of his forehead to dangerously close to his temple. The dried blood dripped from that end and down the side of his face. Like everyone, mud is smeared on his face, neck, and uniform. Behind him, an officer she didn’t recognize held his leg with two bandaged arms, and behind him was another who was completely caked in mud from head to toe, her wide eyes looking at the Shinigami to her left – Yumi Takagaki, Fifth Division’s thirteenth seat - who tries to shirk off her concerns for a gash on her forearm. It takes a moment for Momo to recognise the mud caked officer as Narita, eleventh seat from Tenth Division.

She knew they were in bad shape, but with the exception of a few, it seems most had an injury of some description. She’s thankful Shinji and Toshiro decided not to bring any unseated officers who hadn’t experienced combat before, this would have been too much for them to handle. She didn’t want to put them through what she, Izuru, and Renji experienced as Academy students.

She remembers the horror of that day with a furrowed brow, from their senior being impaled on a Huge Hollow’s limb to thinking she and her friends were all doomed, and she had been the cause of it. Aizen and Gin briefly come to mind, but unlike before, she doesn’t cringe at the thought of them.

“Almost done,” Hanataro says, bringing her out of her memories. “You should be able to walk for-”

At the flare of ice-cold reiatsu, everyone hushes. Shinji twists his head over his shoulder, as if he can see through the cylinder to where Toshiro stands. “Had no idea he could raise it that big,” he mutters. “If he ain’t careful, he’s gonna freeze the whole damn forest.”

“He can do it.”

Shinji blinks at Momo’s determined look. “Huh?”

“I didn’t see this ability up close, but if he thinks he concentrate his power to just one area, he can.”

Shinji doesn’t look convinced as he resumes looking over his shoulder. “Sure hope you’re right. Right now, I’m thinking we’re gonna need to replant some trees, maybe even rebuild this site after he’s done.” With a tense smirk, he adds, “I’m sure Hiyori and the others know where we can hire an extra crane and forklift.”

 Momo allows a weak chuckle, knowing he’s trying to lighten the situation. “We won’t need it. I know he can –”

A chill permeates through the concrete and settles on everyone’s skin.

Hanataro stops the kido and tilts his head upward. Without having to glace down, Momo knows he’s healed her completely; but he doesn’t move to heal Shinji or anyone else. Everyone is completely still, as if they have been frozen by Toshiro’s power. They’re listening to the Hollows, how some of their roars turn shrill, and their stomping footsteps are starting to head away from the site.

The kido at each end flickers, and beyond them, as the rain continues to fall, a sliver of sunlight cuts across the mud.

And then, all sound ceases.

It’s a few seconds later when a downpour of hail hits something metallic in the distance, and then a crackling sound, the same as when water suddenly turns into ice. In the circle they can see to the outside world, the trees aren’t frozen, and neither is the ground. The sunlight grows a fraction bigger, coming over the now stabilised kido and making it a brighter shade of orange.

“Is it over?” someone asks.

When no one answers, Momo reaches her senses out. Toshiro’s reiatsu flickers, but something doesn’t feel right. Rangiku must have sensed it too, because she comes rushing past Momo’s end of the cylinder, heading towards her captain.

Momo starts to stand, using the curved wall for support, but Shinji stops her when he grabs her shoulder.

“The heck you doing?” he demands.

“We have to check on Hit – Captain Hitsugaya. Something’s not right.”

“Matsumoto’s got him. He was like this after fighting the Quincy too, remember? His reiatsu was all over the place.”

“And he was exhausted afterwards. He could barely stand. We need to help him. If Rangiku-san is out there, then surely that means-”

“Just wait a second!” Then, seeing that they had the entire audience of the cylinder, he leans in closers and says more quietly. “Look, he might’ve told you what his power can do, but he mightn’t have gotten all them. I know you’re friends, but until Matsumoto gives the signal, we’re not moving. If something’s gone wrong, you really think he wants you to get caught up in it?” He nods to her ankle. “Besides, is that even healed enough for you to walk on?”

“It is,” Hanataro confirms, who both of them somehow forgot was there. “Lieutenant Hinamori, you should be able to walk and run on that for a short distance without support. We can completely heal it once we get back to the Seireitei.”

She’s certain that everything is over, but Shinji could also be right. Rather than show her resignation, bows her head to Hanataro. “Thank you, Yamada-kun.”

“You’re welcome,” he says, smiling. “Now, we should look at healing you, Captain Hirako.”

“I’m fine, go heal Takagaki.”

But he’s already raising hand to the captain’s head. “This shouldn’t take a moment. As is, Imada-san has just finished with Yamazaki-san, so she can heal Takagaki-san.”

Shinji blinks at him with a furrowed brow. “Since when did you get so confident speaking to a captain like that?”

As if breaking the illusion, Hanataro stumbles out, “I-I meant no offense, Captain!”

“None taken. Just nice to see ya taking charge,” Shinji says with a chuckle.

Momo is about to chastise her captain for upsetting Hanataro, but then Rangiku flash-steps into view.

“Sir,” she says without looking away from her fellow lieutenant.

“Safe to come out?” Shinji shouts to Rangiku, his raised voice getting everyone’s attention.

Rangiku gives a thumbs up, but her smile is forced. It’s all Momo needs to push herself to stand. Something is definitely wrong.

“Rangiku-san just gave the all clear,” she calls out. “Suzuki-san, you can take down the barrier at your end. I’ll take it down on this end.”

After Rangiku runs to the other cylinder, Momo speedily walks to the barrier.

“Oi!” Shinji calls out, but with Hanataro healing him, he can’t move to stop her. She doesn’t look back at him as he cautions with a resigned sigh, “Watch yourself, all right? I’ll be out in a minute.”

“I will, sir.” It takes her only a few seconds to diffuse the barrier, and she gingerly steps her once injured foot out on to the mud.

In the slice of sunlight that comes down from a split in the clouds, everything glitters – the now gently falling rain, the drops of water clinging to the trees, grass, and construction site, and the puddles scattered all across the mud. It’s surreal, and for a second Momo forgets where exactly she is.

In the corner of her eye, officers are stepping out of the other cylinder, either helping the injured come out or suddenly coming to a stop when they turn to face the north, mouths agape and saying something in awe.

She follows their gazes, and the breath stutters in her lungs. The frozen Huge Hollows tower high over the construction fence, most contorted in similar poses – mouths and eyes wide and their limbs raised high or stretched out. She can’t tell if they’re out of panic or rage or a combination of both.

The sun beams through some of them, and it reminds her they’re completely frozen through, devoid of colour and life, like horrifying ice sculptures. There’s so many of them, rows upon rows of them, as far as the eye can see. In the back of her mind, she notes that as far as she can tell, not a single tree or any part of the construction site is frozen.

She shivers, but she’s certain it’s not from the cold or rain. It’s scale of it all; they were facing so many Hollows, and Toshiro had vanquished them all in a matter of seconds.

She’s taken out of her shock when Rangiku’s rushed footsteps come up behind her. Just as Momo twists around to look at her, to ask where Toshiro is, Rangiku comes to a stop. Tenth Division’s fourth seat, Kenichi Hanae, had been running with her, but now halts next to her.

“Lieutenant?” he asks, voice on the edge of breathlessness.

Rangiku doesn’t answer, instead she stares at Momo’s ankle. Her shoulders rise and fall as she pants, her breath faintly fogging in the air.

“Rangiku-san? Are you all right?” Momo asks, reaching out to her.

After a beat, she returns her gaze to meet Momo’s. “I’m fine, what about you? I heard from one of your officers you were injured.”

“I was, but Yamada-kun healed my leg. It’s okay for me to move around”

“And has Captain Hirako given you any orders?”

“No, but we’ll likely need to recast the concealment kido. Earlier, I saw some humans approaching the battle.”

“How far away were they?”

“They weren’t close, but I think they could hear something.”

Rangiku frowns at the ground, once again going into thought. “Then, if you can, I need help with my Captain. It shouldn’t take too long, I just need help carrying him here.”

The urgency in Rangiku’s eyes makes Momo nod without a second thought. “What happened? Is Hitsuga – Captain Hitsugaya alright?”

“I’ll tell you along the way.” Then, to Hanae. “Kenichi-san, change of plans. Tell Captain Hirako that Hinamori and I have gone to help Captain Hitsugaya, then instruct him and the others about cutting down the Hollows. Also, assemble one team to check on the concealment kido and another team to check that there aren’t any other openings to Hueco Mundo in the surrounding areas. If we need more help with the Captain, I’ll come looking for you.”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

After Hanae rushes off, Rangiku looks to Momo and jerks her chin to the right. “Come on.”

She is quick to follow Rangiku, trying to keep her feet on patches of grass to avoid the mud. Behind her, Hanae shouts orders to those still able to fight to start cutting down the frozen Hollows.

The officers vanish from view when she and Rangiku run to the right and down in between a piles of various equipment and materials. Fallen hail crunches beneath their feet and the further they get away from the others, the colder it becomes. Momo can sense Toshiro’s reiatsu a short distance away; it rises and falls in calm waves, but there’s something strange about it she can’t describe.

“The Captain will be fine,” Rangiku reassures without looking back at her, “as you can tell, Shikai Hyoketsu worked. The only thing is, he’s in a bad way. He’s shivering.”

Momo blinks. Unless from fear or disgust, she’s never seen Toshiro shiver. “Why’s that?”

“He thinks it’s because he had to concentrate his power to an area rather than just release it in it's entirety, it took a toll on him.”

“Then, shouldn’t we get Yamada-kun or one of the Fourth Division officers? They can restore his energy and heal any injuries he has!”

“We will, but right now we need to move him closer to the others while he’s like this. He got worse after he transformed back, now he can’t move and can barely speak.”

They jump up on to one of a high stack covered in tarp and hail. Momo holds in a groan when her ankle gives a slight pinch when she lands on the tarp, but she keeps pace with Rangiku.

“I can’t carry him while he’s this cold,” the lieutenant continues as they jump across the piles, “it’s why I originally had Kenichi-san come with me. He has a fire-type zanpakuto, I thought his reiatsu might help.”

“But my reiatsu is bigger,” Momo concludes for her. “Mine can reach a higher temperature and greater range.”

“Well, yes, and…” Rangiku looks over at her, her lips curling into a smirk. “I think seeing a familiar face will help too.”

“W-What does that mean?!”

“Oh, you know!”

Momo doesn’t have time to retort, because Toshiro is just ahead, and she knows this without having to sense his reiatsu. One the stacks has a ring of ice encasing most of it, with jagged spikes pointing in all directions. She senses him behind it, low on the ground.

They jump back on the concrete and hail, landing near where the front line of Shinigami had been, but Momo is taken aback up the thin mist swirling around their feet. Rangiku makes a sharp turn to the right, not missing a step as she rushes to Toshiro, who sits against the ice-covered stack several meters away.

Momo's feet drag to a stop when she sees her childhood friend. The growing sunlight haloes around his completely hunched over. His head droops low, his eyes are hooded, Hyourinmaru lies out of his grasp by his side, and his skin glistens with ice and rain. Aside from the shivers quaking in his limbs, he looks as lifeless as a rag doll. The mist circles around him, distilled when Rangiku runs through it and kneels at his side. Their breaths come out in thick puffs, and Rangiku is shivering so much she rubs her hands over her arms.

As she approaches, Momo conjures up whatever she has in her to raise her reiatsu even higher. The effect on her is immediate, with her uniform and hair going from wet to damp. The rain that hits her doesn’t last long, clinging to her skin for several seconds before evaporating.

Toshiro stirs as she nears, and not even ten feet away from him, she hears him mutter her name. He tries and fails to raise his head.

“Never knew you could get yours that high,” Rangiku says. “The Captain will warm up in no time”

Momo smiles disconcertedly. “I’ll do my best, but I don’t know how long I can hold this for.”

However, at the sight of red dripping down Toshiro’s cheek, Momo stops. The thinner patches of ice on his skin have started to melt, and that meant…

Momo points to his face. “The ice covering his wounds…”

Rangiku uses a clean patch of her scarf to wipe away the small rivulets of red. “It can’t be helped. As far as I can tell, he’s not severely injured, just has some cuts and bruising. Right, Captain?”

Toshiro murmurs a sound of agreement. It makes Momo’s heart throb; she’s never seen him in such a state. She comes closer and kneels at his side. If not for her reiatsu, she’s certain the cold radiating off of him would’ve frozen the remaining rain on her skin to beads of ice. “I’m here, Hitsugaya-kun.”

He makes a slurred, startled sound when she tentatively touches the back of his hand. She clenches her teeth together, trying to ignore the piercing cold that shoot through the tips of her fingers. She concentrates her reiatsu through her palm, and the remanents of the ice encasing his arm and the beads of rain slowly dry away. His skin warms up a few degrees.

Momo pulls her hand back and reaches over grab Toshiro’s right shoulder. She gently pulls him into her, and brings up her other arm around his front, hugging his side into her. She can’t prevent a wince coming out, but she endures the freezing cold, waiting for the ice melt his hair and uniform to dry, and his temperature to rise. To her right, the ice covering the tarp is melting, slowly breaking apart and trickling down to the concrete beneath their feet.

Toshiro head lolls on to her shoulder, but he otherwise stays limp. He slurs out something and tries to widen his eyes, and Momo tilts her head. She’s not certain, but she thought it was an apology.

“D-Did you say s-something?” she stutters out.

Then, unknowingly – because surely, she thinks, he would never do this when he is more conscious – he closes his eyes and nestles closer to her, his hair now tickling the side of her neck.

Rangiku watches on with a confused grin. “…This isn’t what I had in mind, but I think it’s working.”

 Momo can only respond with an embarrassed smile, and she wishes the rising temperature and color in her face was due to her reiatsu. I hope he doesn’t remember this later...or that Rangiku-san tells him!

As they wait, Momo notices just how tired Rangiku looks herself. She managed to avoid getting most of her uniform muddied, but her hair is frizzy at the ends, and there’s a bandage wrapped around her forearm. She leans against the stack, still smiling but she’s stuck in deep though at her lap. Momo knows if she weren’t concentrating on warming up Toshiro she’d appear the same.

She then looks to her left, at the Hollows frozen less than twenty steps away from them. Unlike the ones she saw before, most of them were not trying to run away or showed any sign of panic. Most are looming high over the fence, facing the ice-covered stack. She can imagine Toshiro standing on top of the tarp, facing the hordes of them without hesitation. Some were getting ready to attack, limbs pulled back to hit him, others crouching down to leap at him or springing forward, one limb still in contact with the ground while the other was bent mid run. The ones that would’ve been closest to him have their jaws unnaturally wide open, leaning over the fence with their limbs lunging out to him. One looked like he had gotten dangerously close to swiping her childhood friend, it’s clawed hand only a few meters from where he's stood.

She shakes her head, trying not to think about it and instead focus on the task at hand. She takes in and lets out several deep breaths to calm herself. With each breath, a new scent comes to her, one that had been hidden beneath the smell of blood and the sour odors Hollows gave off. It’s that sweet, earthly scent that only comes with the rain. She lets it fill her lungs, even closes her eyes for a moment to focus on it.

“You did it,” she whispers to him. “I knew you could do it. The Shinigami and the humans in the nearby town, everyone is safe because of you.”

He says and does nothing, and she wonders if he even heard her.

It’s a minute later when his temperature begins to rise, and a few more after that when he moves his legs. Taking it as a sign they are ready to move him, Momo slowly pulls away and puts his back against the tarp.

With a nod to Rangiku, they each take one of his arms and hold it across their shoulders. He groans as they ease him to stand, but he raises his head and move his feet. They support him as he bends down to pick up Hyourinmaru and sheath him across his back.

Save for Rangiku reporting on how each of Tenth Division’s officers were, nothing is said on the way back to the others. Fatigue sets in when they're halfway back, and Momo struggles to keep her reiatsu high. It sputters, like a fire struggling against a gust of wind.

Momo looks to her fellow lieutenant. "Rangiku-san, I don't think i can keep this up."

"It's okay, we're nearly back. Lower your reiatsu if you need to."

With a long exhale, Momo's pressure ebbs away to a manageable level. Though Toshiro had warmed up, some of the cold still lingers, and she and Rangiku both shudder for a moment in the absence of her reiatsu.

Momo's mind wonders in the silence, and she once again thinks about the magnitude of her friend’s powers. She knows he isn’t a fan of Hyourinmaru’s Completed Form, but she wonders how he feels about having an ability like Shikai Hyoketsu. She remembers the awe and hints of fear in the officers' eyes when they looked upon the frozen Hollows. It occurs to her that if she didn’t know him, she’d likely be slightly terrified of him after seeing that. How could a anyone have such power? What drove him to achieve these abilities with his bankai?

It makes her wonder if the children in the Junrinan somehow knew about his then-untapped power, that they could sense it before she did. She’d never been ignorant of his potential, had sensed a flicker of it almost as soon as she first met him, but never would have thought it would lead to something like this.

She comes out her musings when there's a loud crack in the distance. It's followed by several others, and over the stacks of equipment and materials they pass in between, the frozen Hollows are collapsing. In between the ice breaking, the shouting of the Shinigami echoes around the area.

Perhaps motivated by their voices, Toshiro's footsteps become more purposeful and his gaze less hazy. Momo doesn't realize how worried she was until a glimmer of relief flutters through her chest at seeing him more conscious. He's determined, steadfast gaze always looking ahead, his feet never faltering for a second.

This is why she could never fear him, no matter what powers he wields. He fights for others, reaches out a helping hand when needed, and never gives up. He's in the state he is now because he didn't want anyone to get caught up in his powers or to cause more damage to the area.

Knowing they are almost back with the Shinigami, Momo says to Toshiro, "I didn't thank you for saving me and Suzuki-san before. If you hadn't arrived, I think we would've been worse off."

"It was nothing" he says, voice raspy. "I should've gotten there quicker though."

She recalls the narrowed gaze he gave her ankle. "My ankle is fine now. Like I said, it could've been worse." A little lie, as she now becomes aware of the slight pinch it has with every steps she takes; she overdid it. She thinks to end it there, but then, for good measure and to make sure he truly knows, she adds "Besides, in the end, you saved the day for everyone."

They're less than fifteen feet away from regrouping with the other officers when Toshiro suddenly leans in and whispers into her ear. "Thank you."

Why is she so touched? It's not like he gave his gratitude and thanks rarely. Was it because of how croaky his voice is or the fact he whispered to her rather than spoke aloud? She turns her head to him, almost bumping her nose into his.

He has that expression again, where the frown in brow is softened and his eyes are unreadable, brimming with an emotion she has no name for. It's like he's seeing her, but not just in the present, but in the past. There's an affection behind it, as if he fondly remembers her from long ago and appreciates her in the present at the same time.

Her heart flutters, and despite her best efforts, she can't fumble out anything more than, "You're welcome." It strikes her then she has no idea what exactly he thanked her for. It must have been for carrying him back, but why does she get the impression it's not just for that?

"What're you two whispering about?"

Rangiku's teasing question breaks the atmosphere around them, like popping a bubble. Toshiro levels her with a glare so fierce it's a miracle it didn't deter her from laughing, and Momo flounders in trying to dismiss any allusions she had.

They round the corner, and their small argument stops when Tenth Division officers rush over to them. Toshiro straightens as they come to a stop.

Shinji, forehead now healed, spins on his heel to them when the officers call out to them. Despite the stern frown he levels at Momo, there's a hint of a smirk on his lips; it's a look that says, I'll let it slide this time, but we're going to talk about it later. All she offers in response is a rueful shrug of her free shoulder.

What little fear had been in some of the officers' expression is gone, and there is only concern and relief that their captain is back with them. As Momo hands Toshiro over to Kenichi, she knows if he didn't believe her before, seeing everyone gathered around him now would convince him. Everyone is safe because of you. The Shinigami and the humans in the nearby town.

She goes with her captain to the nearest edge of the concealment kido. Along the way, more clouds slowly part and the sun peaks through in the gaps, bringing back the humidity.