Chime… The beautiful, clear sound of bells echoed across the battlefield.
A gentle breeze, carrying the scent of spring and adorned with pale pink plum petals, swept through the simulated Karakura Town. In the center of the swirling colors, a girl descended from the sky.
She wore a pink light that took the form of a seamless, flowing uchikake robe. Her hair, as black as a raven's wing, was styled in the elegant double-loop of a traditional geisha. Shimmering in her white soul-reaper robes, she looked like a maiden of mystery, draped in a celestial raiment and playing a melody of the divine.
In that moment, everyone on the battlefield was struck by the same thought. She looked exactly like the plum blossom spirits of legend...
A celestial maiden.
***
"...Three. I'm sorry I couldn't hit them with everything I had, Tobime."
Her voice, clear as a bell, vibrated through the air. Toshiro Hitsugaya snapped out of his daze, his eyes landing on the four large bells hanging from the hem of her celestial robe.
While most were captivated by the bells, a few focused on the sword Hinamori held. The blade had branched out from its Shikai form into seven distinct prongs, three of which were now glowing with a faint pink light. It matched the number she had just whispered.
Those lights flickered, nurturing a crimson flame of spiritual pressure until—
"Get back! Everyone, get away from her!!"
"Damn it! Everyone, get behind my Myo'o! Bankai!"
—Kokujo Tengen Myo'o—
The massive, armored samurai of Sajin Komamura's Bankai manifested, but it was immediately engulfed in a colossal explosion that incinerated both the giant and the earth beneath it.
"Gah... h..."
"What happened!?"
A searing heat tore at their skin. The Gotei 13 and the Visoreds were blown back, desperately trying to regain their footing amidst the chaos.
But Toshiro and the others were given no respite.
In the corner of his spinning vision, he saw a flash of that plum-colored crimson. In an instant, the world was swallowed by fire. A hellish inferno surged through his body, hot enough to make his eyes feel like they were boiling.
It was a follow-up attack. By the time Toshiro realized it, the ice armor of his Bankai, Daiguren Hyorinmaru, had already been reduced to spiritual steam in its attempt to protect him.
"Good grief... she's like a mini-version of the old man!"
Soi Fon, the lightning-fast Captain of Squad 2, inwardly agreed with the horrified voices of her comrades. As the only one nimble enough to react properly to the explosion, she felt the greatest surge of fear because she had actually seen what happened.
"The 'Calamity Flame Girl'... so she really is the one the Espada were talking about!"
Soi Fon recalled her life-and-death struggle against the King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan Louisenbairn, from just moments ago.
『—I will not forgive this! You ant! You Soul Reaper wretch! You dare show me those cursed explosive flames a second time!!』
Soi Fon's Zanpakuto, Jakaisho Raikoben, was a Bankai that embodied a one-hit kill—not through poison or assassination, but through pure, overwhelming destructive power.
She had used it only as a last resort, but it had unintentionally acted as a massive provocation. After being hit, Baraggan's transcendent composure had vanished, turning him into a mad beast. He had ignored Marechiyo and Hachigen, focusing solely on Soi Fon as an incarnation of death. She had survived only through the quick thinking of that big man, Hatchi.
『...Hmph. My own power is my end... unexpectedly, it is quite fulfilling...』
Hatchi had used a space-time Kido to teleport Baraggan's own "aging" power into his body. It was a desperate move that used Soi Fon as a decoy, but it seemed to have released the Arrancar from his own complex inferiorities in his final moments.
However, Soi Fon had no interest in her enemy's feelings. What mattered to the Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Force was that the arrogant Baraggan had been so thoroughly broken that he died praising the power of the "Little Girl" rather than himself.
That nightmare was now a reality. She was witnessing the power of the girl the Espada revered as their "Army Leader."
"Tch... it's a fireball! The flames launched from that seven-branched sword have tracking capabilities!"
In the few seconds since Momo Hinamori released her Bankai, the allied forces had been decimated. Soi Fon shouted, trying to give her remaining comrades a fighting chance.
"Are they coming from the bells!? How is she controlling them!?"
"She isn't! Assume it's the same type of ability as Byakuya Kuchiki's Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
"Then we close the distance and fight in the safe zone!"
The Captains' tactical analysis was brilliant, but it was a plan born of desperation.
"Wait, don't!"
"Stop! You're walking right into her trap!!"
Urahara and Shinji, who had bitter experience fighting Hinamori in her Shikai, shouted warnings. Even though her spiritual pressure was technically weakened, a Bankai increased combat power tenfold.
One look at her Hagoromo Kobai Rinrin told them that her offensive power had skyrocketed.
"This is for Mashiro and Hatchi, you brat! Bankai!"
—Tekken Tachikaze—
"Let's go, Tengumaru! Fly her all the way to heaven, Angel!"
—Hifuki no Kozuchi—
"The circumstances don't matter. If you're an enemy, die, Momo Hinamori! Sting all enemies to death... Suzumebachi!"
Kensei, Love, and Soi Fon—masters of close-quarters combat—charged at the girl from three directions.
No fireballs flew to intercept them. It seemed Hinamori's Bankai was indeed suited for melee range.
"I suppose I have no choice... Sting!"
—Kamisori Benihime—
"Tch, those stubborn idiots... Collapse!"
—Sakanade—
Realizing they couldn't stop them, Urahara and Shinji immediately provided cover. Shinji's Sakanade inverted all senses—up, down, left, right. While Aizen's monstrous intellect had cracked the ability quickly, a girl like her should have been incapacitated for a while.
Between Urahara's barrage of energy blades and Shinji's sensory hypnosis, the three Captains' full-strength strikes were inches from reaching Hinamori.
"It's dangerous to touch me."
Suddenly, the celestial robes the three had grazed exploded in a radial burst of sparks centered on the girl.
"GAAAH!?"
Pellets of fire, like buckshot, tore through Soi Fon and the others. Even Soi Fon, whose speed surpassed her master Yoruichi, couldn't dodge.
Her body mangled, Soi Fon lost the ability to maintain her footing on the spiritual air. She and the other two plummeted toward the town below, screaming in agony.
"How...!? Her attacks should have been inverted!"
"Don't underestimate her—or rather, them. You have to assume that any trick used on this battlefield once will never work a second time."
The trigger for Shinji's Sakanade was the scent of his sword. For a Bankai like hers, dispersing that scent with an explosion was a simple task.
Small tricks were meaningless before overwhelming violence. Shinji gritted his teeth at the sheer irrationality of it.
"Long range is a no-go. Close range is suicide. Even our tricks are crushed by raw power. What the hell are we supposed to do...?"
Despair began to swallow the Gotei 13 and the Visoreds.
But one person was still moving.
"Wait... Momo...!"
His voice was a mere rasp. Shinji and the others turned to see Toshiro, his body half-covered in horrific burns.
"Don't, Captain Hitsugaya! The time isn't right—"
Urahara tried to pull him back, but Toshiro didn't even hear him.
"I have to... stop her..."
Toshiro stumbled toward the girl. She looked down at him with the same expressionless gaze.
How can you look at me like that?
Memories flashed through Toshiro's mind like a kaleidoscope. The happy times. The frustrating times. The embarrassing times. The days that were cold yet warm, like sitting under a kotatsu in winter before everything turned to tragedy.
"I know... I know my power... isn't enough to stop you..."
A humiliating rasp escaped his lips. At the Hill of Sokyoku, and during the Espada raid—every time, he had been beaten like a dog, left groveling pathetically before her just like this.
He understood the gap in their strength all too well.
"But... that doesn't matter. It's not about if I can do it..."
A flicker of stubbornness returned strength to his blade. He would carve away his flesh, his soul—everything—to fill the gap.
Who cared if his legs were shaking? Who cared if his arms were burning off?
Who cared if his spiritual power was gone, his wings were broken, or his sword was shattered?
"I'm going to do it."
It wasn't about possibility. He was simply too stubborn to quit. If he gave that up, then...
"It isn't just me, right?"
—Hyorinmaru.—
In that moment, a vision of a young man appeared, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. He was a beautiful, powerful figure with long, ice-blue hair fluttering in the wind.
He had probably been there from the beginning. Toshiro didn't have the strength to look back, but he felt the presence of the other half of his soul supporting him.
The lone partner of his soul, who usually appeared as a massive ice dragon.
"Look, Hyorinmaru. Look at the smug face of her partner... Tobime..."
He felt Hyorinmaru rear his head behind him. They were both looking at the same thing: the long-haired celestial maiden looking down on them with eyes of arrogant mockery.
Hinamori's Zanpakuto.
"You're frustrated too, aren't you? You, the strongest of the ice-type souls, being laughed at by a common fire-type like that..."
He felt his partner frown and nod. They were the same soul; he knew better than anyone how much his partner hated to lose.
"HINAMORI!"
Toshiro shouted with all his might—a desperate, pathetic, bravado-filled cry.
But the voice reached her.
"You're going to regret not finishing me off with that last attack!"
"...!"
Blood welled in his scorched throat, choking his breath.
From the depths of his body—from the very core of his soul—he tore out a spiritual pressure that felt like coughing up his own lifeblood. The sensation of something precious being shaved away within him was a feeling Toshiro had long since grown used to.
"I'll show you... our stubbornness, our pride... OUR EVERYTHING!"
It was a fragment of the ultimate power granted by the Ice Dragon. A final gambit that Toshiro himself didn't know the consequences of using with his immature body.
—Hyokai Zekku — Absolute Void of the Ice Realm—
From the tip of Toshiro's broken blade, the world began to freeze. The ground, the buildings, the sky, the air—even space itself. His partner boasted that this power could freeze all four worlds if perfected, but for now, this was the limit of the boy's soul-fueled effort.
Momo Hinamori's amber eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight of his desperate, soul-searing effort.
And then.
"—Follow and be followed, the harbinger of a hundred flowers... if the ringing bells of the sky reach you, where will they go...?"
As if responding to his feelings, her song imbued the glowing prongs of her blade with a level of spiritual power that was on a completely different scale than before.
"—If the rising crimson does not welcome you... I shall become the heavenly fire that consumes all..."
With the sound of trembling bells, she unleashed the essence of her power.
—Dairin Tobime: Osenka — Great Bell Flying Plum: Nightingale Flash-fire—
Thousands—tens of thousands—of massive fire birds took flight in every direction, letting out high-pitched chirps. Each bird was a nightingale of explosive flames, carrying that plum-colored fire within them.
It was no longer a battle; it was a natural disaster.
The peach-colored explosions licked away every inch of Toshiro's frozen world. Every snowflake, every bit of ice was consumed by a purgatory of eternal fire that sought to destroy everything in existence.
It wasn't a special ability. It was pure firepower and sheer numbers. An overwhelming violence that allowed no one to approach and crushed any attack head-on.
Resting in the sky like a floating fortress, the lovely celestial maiden sowed a storm of destruction until the simulated Karakura Town looked like the site of a fallen star.
***
How long had he been unconscious? Toshiro forced his mangled body to move, looking around for the girl he loved.
He saw a literal hell. The earth was a bubbling, boiling red. Thick black smoke covered the sky, and white dust—he couldn't tell if it was sand or ash—fell like snow.
And then he found her. She was standing less than thirty feet away.
"That was magnificent, Momo."
The sound of slow, mocking applause echoed through the molten crater. The Great Evil—Sosuke Aizen—descended behind his prized "weapon."
To a King, this result was nothing new; it was the expected outcome of a massacre.
"...However, you are still soft."
Aizen looked around, expressing his displeasure at the various faint spiritual pressures still lingering.
"You are the most lethal card in my hand. Yet, despite that power, your blade has yet to be stained with blood."
At those words, Toshiro noticed the weak presence of his allies scattered around.
Aizen was right. At the Hill of Sokyoku, during the first Arrancar raid, and during the Espada attack—she had the power to easily take their lives, yet she had never once killed anyone. She had stripped the Gotei 13 and the Visoreds of their will to fight, but she hadn't taken a single life. It was as if she were protecting a final line.
As if it were her last bit of conscience.
But the Great Evil was about to strip that away from her as well.
"You should not show them mercy. Those crawling on the ground are the enemies who killed the Arrancars you gathered, led, and loved. You must not leave even a fragment of compassion for such people in your heart."
Aizen spoke as if he hadn't been the one to cut down the female Espada who loved Hinamori the most. He cast aside his own deeds, planting seeds of hatred in the girl's heart.
"Now, it is time to part with your unnecessary past. Kill the one who distracts your heart..."
"—Take the life of Toshiro Hitsugaya."
The battlefield, already decided, grew tense. Toshiro stared at the girl's face.
"Yes."
His desperate hope didn't reach her. She had become a tool of evil to her very core.
One step. Then another. Her slender feet brought her closer to Toshiro. The faint sound of her footsteps crushed what little remained of his hope.
Momo.
In her clouded amber eyes, he couldn't find a single trace of her feelings for him. There was no madness, no sorrow, no joy. She was a hollow mass of power—Aizen's doll.
Momo.
And when her seven-branched sword rose high into the air—
A cold drop of water ran down Toshiro's cheek.
Ah... truly.
"Momo..."
You aren't there anymore, are you?
***
『—Toshiro? Did I wake you up?』
Why was he remembering this now?
How many years had passed? To her, it was likely just another night, but for Toshiro, it was a page of unforgettable happiness and regret.
『...What are you doing out here?』
『Oh, nothing much.』
It was a cold December night. His birthday. Light snow was falling.
He had gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom and found his childhood friend sitting alone on the porch. Bathed in the moonlight, she looked uncharacteristically mature, and uncharacteristically... beautiful.
『...Aren't you cold?』
Toshiro asked gruffly, hiding his confusion at how different she looked. But the question stung his own heart.
—At this rate, you're going to freeze your grandmother to death.
A female Soul Reaper had told him that just a year ago. The fact that his awakening power was uncontrollable and was slowly killing his family had left a deep darkness in young Toshiro's heart.
Since then, anything that reminded him of that freezing power filled him with complex emotions. The sparkling snow, the icicles on the roof, the cold winter air...
But.
『Just a bit. But I'm warm because you're here next to me, Toshiro.』
The girl had smiled at him. A gentle, warm smile that could light up any darkness, like a calm full moon on a winter night.
She had always saved him. Sometimes with a casual remark, and sometimes with a desperate plea...
—Please! I'll pay you anything, just help him!
Even back then, she had bowed her head to that Soul Reaper. She was usually a ditzy airhead, but when it came to Toshiro, Momo Hinamori was always the first to step forward.
The female Soul Reaper had laughed, saying he should just become a Soul Reaper himself. When Toshiro saw the girl collapse in tears of relief, and then look up at him anxiously—remembering how he had said he hated Soul Reapers—he knew he couldn't say no.
『...Stupid Momo.』
『Hey! What was that for?』
He had looked away, trying to hide how moved he was by her smile.
Momo had pouted for a while before looking up at the sky. Toshiro was captivated by the sight.
『...Ah.』
Her profile glowed faintly in the moonlight amidst the falling snow. She was so lovely it made his heart ache, yet she looked so lonely and fragile... as if she were being called away by the heavens.
『—Next year!』
Toshiro had shouted, as if trying to call her back, needing to tell her something.
『Next year, I'm going to become a Soul Reaper.』
What kind of face had she made then?
She didn't want him to be hurt. She didn't want him to be unhappy. She was a kind sister trying to protect her brother... she must have been so sad.
『Tch! So once I get stronger than you—』
Hey, Momo.
If I had finished that sentence...
Would I be able to smile right now?
As I accept your blade into my chest?
***
"What's wrong, Momo?"
The voice of the man he hated most—cold and displeased—called the name of the girl he loved.
Why did he get to call her name like that?
"Tosh..."
Drip.
Something fell on his cheek.
Toshiro opened his eyes. He heard the wind, saw the light, and felt his heart beating.
Why am I still alive?
He didn't know. His vision was blurry, and the sun shining through the trees was blinding.
"...I don't want this..."
He heard a voice like crying flowers. A tiny, fragile voice.
A faint breath brushed his cheek. His instincts knew that whatever was there was what he needed to focus on.
He gathered his consciousness, gathered the light, the sounds, the smells. He forced his broken body to move.
And then, he saw.
"—I don't... want this..."
Drip. Something fell on his cheek—from her cheek.
A tiny light had returned to her eyes. Deep within the eye of the lonely girl looking down at him, her sword still raised.
A single tear ran down her expressionless face. It was like a scream from the last bit of "human" left inside her.
"...I only... I only wanted to protect everyone... that's why I became a Soul Reaper..."
As her pale pink lips spoke those words, the mask began to peel away. The doll was becoming a person again—becoming the girl the boy loved.
"Hi... na..."
A gasp. He opened his eyes wide. The light in the darkness—her feelings—lit a fire in Toshiro's heart that he thought had gone out.
The girl reached out a trembling hand toward him.
It wasn't to lead him like she used to. It wasn't to pat his head or pull him away from danger.
The girl who had always tried to protect him, who had bowed to evil for his sake... for the first time...
"...Toshiro..."
"—Save me..."
Not even the greatest writer could describe the emotions that surged through Toshiro in that moment. Shock, sorrow, joy, resolve. A million feelings overflowed from his young heart.
Overwhelmed, he lay on the ground, tears streaming from his eyes.
"I see."
But then—
"—How disappointing."
In Toshiro's tear-blurred vision...
The girl's chest turned crimson.
***
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