Author's Note: I think two more chapters (not including this one) and we're done. I know I said more chapters previously, but I decided to cut short because I'm facing severe writer's block and I need to get this story and The Mask of Ice finished asap. I hope you won't mind...gomenasai...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Bleach nor its affiliated characters; Toushirou, aka Koori, and his zanpakutou belongs to me.

The One 10

The One with the Asauchi

"This...this is ridiculous! An outrage! Soutaichou, how can you expect me to put up with the brat's carelessness anymore!? This is not the first time he has done something that is deemed severe by Soul Society law!" the masked captain yelled at the top of his voice, the longest of his blue nails pointing directly at the silent captain with the intent of offense. Hissing slightly, he continued, "My division has suffered many losses, including the necessary equipment and chemicals I have specially prepared when the chance of experimenting on the other white-haired child should ever come. If this poor excuse of a captain doesn't take up the responsibility, who will!?"

The accused Hitsugaya twitched at the end where Kurotsuchi had screeched like an old record, remaining as calm as possible while standing with his arms crossed and eyes closed. It was only when silence settled did he open them, but had kept his sight glued to the ground, awaiting Yamamoto's views on the most recent incident involving the rather troublesome Toushirou and the retarded-looking mad scientist. He didn't know if he should be thankful to Ukitake, Kyouraku and Unohana for putting in a good word on his behalf; on one hand, Yamamoto did not seem to disagree with them, but on the other, it only added fuel to Kurotsuchi's rage, restarting his cycle of rants and complaints until the old captain ordered for him to keep his mouth shut.

As he watched Mayuri retreat back into the line of the remaining captains, Yamamoto averted his gaze to the youngest amongst them. "Hitsugaya-taichou, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes slightly. "While it is true that the unknown shinigami under me has entered the 12th Division laboratory before...I have not witnessed him doing anything that is dangerous as explained by Kurotsuchi-taichou. Furthermore, I have kept him under my fukutaichou's watch all this time, as well as ensured that he had no way of escaping into the other divisions, but as for how he had gotten into the 12th Division, I have not discovered anything."

"So you're saying that you hold none of the responsibility for this matter?" Hitsugaya was silent. "While it is true that you did not intend for the 12th Division to incur this many losses, allowing our perpetrator to invite trouble is still part of your responsibility which I have given you. Our top priority may be to train for the upcoming war with Aizen, but that doesn't mean that you can loosen up on this task and solely begin your own training. There is a possibility that this child on whom we keep an eye is a spy for Aizen himself; we can even consider him as an innocent party being targeted by Aizen. However, we know none of Aizen's plans other than his interest in the King's Key, therefore we cannot allow ourselves to quickly jump at conclusions. But whatever the result may be, you are supposed to take up the entire responsibility of this child, no matter what goes wrong. Is that clear?"

He clenched his fist behind his back, expression remaining indifferent. "...Hai."

"Well then, we will move on to our next topic--" Cut off by the emergency alarm, coming at quite the uncomfortable pace, the bushy, white brows furrowed as a hell butterfly heavily fluttered its wings. Hitsugaya blinked at the unusual glow it was radiating; there was ice, bits and pieces of ice falling off the glossy wings of blackness, melting away before they could even touch the ground.

'This is...an emergency...' He narrowed his eyes, brows finely knitted together; all of the captains raised their eyebrows at the unfamiliar child-like voice transmitting a message via the hell butterfly, but he knew who was responsible for sending out the freezing hell butterfly. He just needed to know for what purpose it would serve. 'I...I spotted a gigantic hole in the sky...above the big, scary hill...Some monsters are climbing out of the hole...'

Yamamoto's frown was carved deeper into his old features; the normally stoic or quieter captains - namely Soifon, Unohana, Byakuya and Hitsugaya - showed no apparent reaction to the piece of news, while Komamura merely growled; Kyouraku tipped his hat and covered his face, as if waiting for more of the message to come up. Zaraki and Mayuri were each contemplating on how fun it would be to fight and experiment on hollows respectively while Ukitake took a deep inhale. "A hole..." he muttered under his breath. "There is no mistake; it's a garganta."

'O..Onee-chan tried to protect me...She's badly hurt and I saw this butterfly then I remembered that Hyousetsu-niichan would let it stand on his finger, so I thought...I thought I could do it. I'm asking for anyone who hears this to come...! I don't know why these monsters are after me..they're so scary...! He--'

The transmission was cut off as the dark wings broke off, part by part, before they dissipated into sparkles of dust as did the body of the creature, its body once glistening onyx, now dulled to grey and ascending towards the ceiling. Unohana closed her eyes, but otherwise remained the same; as all shinigami knew, hell butterflies were merely their tools of comunication. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no compassion set aside for the creatures created just for the sake of serving their instilled purposes, and they themselves, though not alive by layman's terms, did not have any emotions of their own. But one could not deny the fact that a handful of shinigami still had something known as acceptance existed. They acknowledged those opinion-less butterflies. And Unohana was one of that handful of shinigami.

However, she was probably one of the very few amongst the captains who had that type of sympathy. Perhaps it had been because of her tendency to care for the patients did she realise that life, even in the afterlife, was precious. The butterflies might have been created for a sole purpose, but they had a life. Not many shinigami would think of the glistening black bodies that way.

As she had expected, Yamamoto stood up from his seat and banged his staff against the ground as if ignoring the fact that one life had been lost to the energies revolving the grounds on which they stood. "Aizen is making his move quicker than we have anticipated. I expect all captains to standby their respective divisions and attack any hollow or arrancar that you see. As for the rescue atop Soukyoku Hill, I will send Hitsugaya-taichou to take care of the matter." Hitsugaya nodded silently; if it was anything, he needed to know what in the world Matsumoto was doing on Soukyoku Hill with Toushirou."Now you are all dismissed."

-T-h-e-O-n-e-W-i-t-h-T-h-e-A-s-a-u-c-h-i-

"Ehh...? A kid?" The tanned, burly figure muttered to himself, unfolding his arms while landing his gaze on the barely tuft-like hair of white. Toushirou bit his lip, but it couldn't stop trembling; like it wasn't dark enough with the sun covered when he first arrived at the hill, and now he was cowering in the unknown monster's shadow, unable to do anything even an attempt to make a run for it. All he could do was stare, and watch as the feet came closer towards him. "Aizen-sama said to 'grab the first white-haired person' we see, but did he deliberately send us here just to get this pathetic kid?"

"If Aizen-sama wants him, then we will take him, regardless of whether he is trash or not," the stony voice commented, stepping out of the garganta and landing on his feet swiftly. To the young child, he did not seem as scary; however so, the piece of mask-like horn on his head, the two fine lines of green down his eyes and his vampire-like paleness were still enough to send chills down his spine, as if freezing his back to the ground, unwilling to let him budge.

Beside him laid the woman who was on the brink of unconsciousness, her golden locks dragging the dirt and blood pooling around her cheek where she pressed firmly against. Puffs of whiteness escaped her lips, her blue grey eyes narrowed as she tilted her head and watched the arrancar-like figures approach her captain lookalike. Haineko was within her reach, but her hand was immobilized for some strange reason. She willed for it to move, but it wouldn't; she slowly turned, eyeing the familiar hilt just an arm's length away from her, but an ice cage encasing her hand to the ground was the only thing in her way. Where had it come from anyway?

The weather might've had been pretty unstable as of late, the temperature rising and dropping rapidly with the frozen ponds undergoing the same cycle of freezing and melting. And that day had been at its worst; it was as if her taichou had released Hyourinmaru, only with weather that was twice as bad. Small chunks of ice fell to Seireitei grounds like miniature meteorites, the temperature falling slightly below water's freezing point; her entire being was trembling, but she had felt none of the coldness. Her left arm shifted slightly.

"Hah? Now what's the deal with the stupid weather here...it's raining ice, for freakin' sake," the 10th Espada complained, grabbing a handful of the hail and crushing them to dust with his bare fist. A mere whimper distracted him from the falling ice. "Gah...I'm tired of waitin' for backup; not like we need it anyway. Let's just grab the kid and get it over and done with already." Ulquiorra said nothing.

Cerulean orbs widened as a palm twice the size of his face came into his view. Inhaling sharply, he closed his eyes shut and forced his limbs to get out of the way. Instead of feeling his body move, however, he felt a sharp iciness shoot up his spine; stunned, his eyes shot open at the alien sensation. His mind began to slip into a vortex, his world spinning uncontrollably while his head pounded, and then...

'Do you need help, my dear Koori-kun?'

W-what...? Who...?

A female, seemingly much older than he was, judging by how she towered over him, surfaced within the mess of his thoughts. It wasn't that he couldn't recognise the flowing white hair, eyes of the same blue hue of his own, nor the kimono running a bright blue with the icy silver obi; he just couldn't comprehend the wave of nostalgia sweeping over his being. Koori...just the name alone had triggered a sensation of some sort tingling within him; was that who he was? Going by the name of Koori? But he couldn't remember anything before he arrived at Seireitei, the only female he knew other than his grandmother had been Hinamori Momo, but...nothing else after that.

...But that voice...he could've sworn, it sounded like the girl he dreamt of every night...yes, perhaps that had been where he knew of her. She appeared before him in his dreams. But what relationship she had with him, he hadn't an idea.

A blanket of whiteness stretched to a never-ending plain, flakes of snow crystals descending from the darkened heavens, forming the piles of snow which came up to her ankles. Her hair danced along with the wintry winds, the snowflakes accompanying the hair which ran the colour of snow like flower petals in strong summer winds. Trickling down her rosy cheeks were trails of glistening ice, her deep sapphires moistening with stinging numbness.

'Remember, Koori, you chose to walk down this path before all this ever began...before the betrayal, before the existence of the ryoka...even before the very existence of Hitsugaya Toushirou.'

Hitsugaya Toushirou...wasn't that him?

As if reading his mind, she shook her head in displeasure. 'I knew it. You never listen to what I say. Even when I told you doing this to yourself would endanger both your lives, you still carried the wish of materialising without his aid...but as I have said, you chose to walk down this path yourself. Not me, not Toushirou, not Hyourinmaru; you.' She paused, biting her lower lip till the crimson droplets froze, and he, too, had a taste of the metallic fluid at the tip of his tongue. 'We may be one, Koori, but we are one only in mind and soul. Your body is your own; I have no control over something that belongs to you. However, if you do not arrive at a consensus even at a time like this, I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands.'

With narrowed eyes, her lips formed few words, 'Forgive me.'

As soon as he snapped back to reality, Toushirou - or rather, as mentioned by the female, Koori - leapt to his feet and jumped away without him willing for his body to move in the first place. A burst of silvery white reiatsu swept across from his feet, driving the giant Espada backwards. He clutched his head, hissing a 'bastard' below his breath and dashed towards the young shinigami, fists clenched and ready to pound him. Again he jumped out of harm's way, this time kicking Yammy on his back to kiss the ground but barely causing any visible injuries on the other's skin.

Matsumoto immediately shunpo-ed and grabbed Koori by the arms before shunpo-ing away from Yammy's charge-in. "Toushirou-chan, while you have good reiatsu, you can't just fight on your own like that. What will taichou do if you get seriously injured?" she commented while frowning slightly, holding Haineko by her left hand.

"Demo, onee-chan, you're injured! You're in no condition to fight either!"

She blinked. "Nonsense! I'm not the 10th Division fukutaichou for nothing, you know!" Matsumoto smiled, tossing Toushirou a wink. "Don't worry, ok? I'm sure taichou's on his way, and when he comes, we'll be able to handle things," she assured the younger shinigami, switching to her right hand before flashing him one more smile.

Koori stared blankly; he had a horrible gut feeling about how this would all turn out. Those monsters didn't seem like the kind who would go down so easily, but those other bigger, stupid-looking ogres coming out from the ripped hole seemed like the kind he could handle. Or perhaps it would be more suited if it were the kind 'she' could handle. He still couldn't feel his toes nor his fingers; it was like he was consciously watching the event unfolding before him, yet it was not him who was doing the moving around. And again, his feet moved on their own; he was heading towards the crowd of ordinary hollows that were aiming for different directions. Matsumoto turned to call for him to come back, but a giant clenched fist rained upon her and she shielded herself with Haineko; if anything were to happen to him now, she wasn't going to be able to see a happy taichou when he got there.

A chill ran down her veins, a gust of wintry wind engulfing her; this reiatsu...though unstable, was very powerful. It almost felt like the overwhelming reiatsu she sensed back when her captain was but a mere child who lived alone with his grandmother. The army of hollows swimming in the skies was instantly frozen upon nearing the source of that reiatsu, bits of ice crumbling away and melting as they touched the soil.

From afar, where the meeting had just drawn to a dismissal, the captains frowned at the outburst of reiatsu sweeping over the whole of Seireitei. Hitsugaya left them wordlessly, shunpo-ing in the direction of the hill of exeuction. It took him no longer than a few seconds before he reached frozen grounds, shunpo-skiing across while reaching out for the ice blue hilt of Hyourinmaru. Intervening his lieutenant's fight with the 10th Espada, he called upon the dragon of ice and sent the freezing waters hurling towards Yammy and Ulquiorra.

They evaded the attack flawlessly. "Heh, now what's this? Another white-haired kid?" Yammy stole a glance at the haori dancing in the wind. "A captain, eh? Now this could be interesting, isn't it Ulquiorra?"

"...Keep your mind focused on the mission, Yammy. Aizen-sama also wishes for us to return with the one he wants as soon as possible," Ulquiorra replied stoically, taking calm steps towards the 10th Division captain. "If you do not wish for Soul Society to be destroyed, you and the other child will come with me without the need of a fight. Aizen-sama wishes to speak with you."

"As if I would go to see him," Hitsugaya spat coldly, emerald eyes narrowing.

Eyes of the same green hue, albeit with a tinge of lifelessness, did the same. "It is pointless to resist." Ulquiorra held up a pale hand and, as if on cue, a new batch of hollows appeared from behind him, the skies ripped with garganta patches. "I will say it again, boy. If you do not wish for Soul Society to be destroyed, you and the other white-haired child will come with me now, otherwise it is not you who dies...but your comrades."

"Taichou!" Matsumoto stepped up to prevent things from going out of hand, but another blade came into view; her brows furrowed as the larger of the Espada pushed her back while raising another clenched fist, a ball of red spiritual energy revolving the knuckles.

Hitsugaya turned towards the call, muttering something incoherent under his breath while raising Hyourinmaru up towards the serpentine clouds only to be pushed towards the garganta from which Ulquiorra came by a swift knock from the white fist. He scowled, raising his reiatsu a little, and charged towards the raven-haired Espada; Ulquiorra prepared himself by raising his palm, but to his surprise, the white-haired captain disappeared from his view. "Shunpo," he muttered coldly, turning to watch the haori blowing with the wind. "It's useless."

An Adjuchas trailed behind Hitsugaya's footsteps in the air, only to be kicked back by a swish of the long, cold blade. When it refused to give up on following him, he tossed the chain blade towards the Adjuchas' arm, lightly tugging at the chain to make sure it was firm and tight before pulling the entire arm out of the hollow, its roars echoing in the area as it slowly fell to the ground, fading away into the air. But that wasn't the end of it.

Before him, three Adjuchas leapt towards him; he gritted his teeth, tightened his hold on Hyourinmaru's hilt, and slashed at the small group of hollows with a trail of icy water freezing them before crumbling. And then again, and again.

Ulquiorra blankly stared at the boy fight; he didn't want to use his power for the unnecessary, unless the child, too, was willing to show him his full potential. However, even if he were to release his full power, it wasn't enough to overcome a 4th Espada's. He wasn't exactly what he would call trash, but he wasn't exactly someone of great calibre either. So why was Aizen-sama interested in a person like him? While it was remarkable that a mere child could get this far, reaching the stage where he was appointed as a captain, he wasn't one of the strongest out there; there was one, for instance, Kurosaki Ichigo whose reiryoku could surpass that of his own when fully unleashed. Aizen-sama was once interested in that boy, but now he has shifted his focus. Ulquiorra wasn't one who needed reason, but the change was a bit unexpected.

When he figured that the two boys had enough playing around, he called upon another swarm of hollows, chasing after them. Hitsugaya swore under his breath as he continued slashing at all the hollows in sight; they were everywhere, coming from all directions. Bankai would get rid of them in one swift strike...but it seemed as if they were attempting to prevent him from using bankai in the first place. They were buying time, obviously. They didn't seem to want to give him any of that bought time either. What a pain.

And yet, another school of hollows came flying towards him; he readied himself, called upon the dragon once more, only to be interrupted by a wave of snow, formed in an unidentifiable shape, which wiped out the entire sea of the masked souls. Hitsugaya blinked, turning to where the frighteningly cold - to him, it was anything but cold - reiatsu was emanating. Standing in the midst of the snow and ice was his miniature lookalike, panting as his zanpakutou clattered along with his trembling. Wait, his zanpakutou...?

"Toushirou?" Hitsugaya breathed, landing on his feet gracefully before the younger. "That zanpakutou...is it yours?"

"Zanpaku...tou? You mean, this sword?" Koori asked, tilting his head to one side. The beads of sweat that were once trickling down his cheeks had been frozen in their place. "I...I think so. All this time, someone was talking to me, saying some things I don't quite understand...and she helped me fight all those monsters with this sword. It just suddenly appeared; I can't remember when it did..."

Hitsugaya made no reply. He stole a glance at the zanpakutou of pure white, its hilt literally blooming as if it were a dainty flower with a white blade which made the zanpakutou overall much taller than its own wielder. And judging by the reiatsu, as well as the field on which they were standing, it was undoubtedly a very powerful ice-type zanpakutou; it eerily reminded him of Hyourinmaru and Sode no Shirayuki, of which belonged to Kuchiki Rukia, the way the snow and ice moved had been like the manifestation of the dragon of ice, while the appearance of the zanpakutou in its released state bore a resemblance to Kuchiki's. There was one disturbing thing, though; it might've had been a split second, but it almost appeared as if the hilt were literally melting in Toushirou's hand. It was like the whole structure of the zanpakutou...had been carved out of ice itself.

He needed to know, the name of this unique ice-type. "Just now, you said, someone was talking to you, am I right?" Toushirou nodded tentatively. Hitsugaya restrained a sigh. "Then...did she tell you the name of the zanpakutou?"

"Name?" Bright azure eyes glistened with confusion. "You mean, these things have names?"

Next chapter: While in the midst of figuring out his true identity, Koori is whisked away to Hueco Mundo while Hitsugaya is forced to remain in his division office as Soul Society's way of protecting him from the clutches of Aizen. But just as the traitor was about to pull off one last trick up his sleeve, a phoenix blazing with white flames appears before the white-haired captain in Soul Society.