Summer's Heir
Part 6 + epilogue
by Kel
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: Aizen, even after death, leaves a legacy.
Note: Do critique, if you wish. One chapter left and an epilogue are still planned. My apologies for the wait, and thank you for still sticking with me.

He heard his name called, somewhere above the dragon's protest and the Hollow's triumphant roar. He reacted to it before he'd fully processed it; that was Hinamori's voice and it was so ingrained in him to react to her when she called that it was simply what he did. It saved him this time. Hitsugaya turned to find Hinamori and the Hollow's claw barely missed him, scoring the ground close enough to him that he felt the air rush along his spine.

There she was, her eyes wide and terrified, mouth agape. Her hand was on her sword, her knees bent, and she looked ready to attack. Matsumoto stood just behind her, already drawing her sword.

They shouldn't be here. Hitsugaya pushed to his hands and knees, driven by only instinct now. How often had he moved only to make sure one, or both, of these impulsive, addle-brained women stayed safe? The dragon was rumbling in his mind, somewhere between insistent and hopeful. His earlier resolve to simply lie there and end what wasn't a life anymore fell aside in that moment.

He could see it in her eyes and echoed in Matsumoto's horrified expression. They would grieve. The dragon in his mind latched onto that, insisting he look at them and really see their fear. Fear for him. Fear that he'd leave them.

Crouched on the ground, Hollow still behind him, Hitsugaya stilled. The Hollow's roar drove straight into his skull, and Hinamori's call was etched in sharp relief. Under his hand, it seemed he felt ever grain of dirt, every blade of grass sharp-edged against his palm The breeze blew Matsumoto's hair into her face and he believed he could see every strand.

Clarity.

It was everything he'd wanted since this thing had started. Since he'd been left floundering in a desert in Hueco Mundo, it was all he wished for and it assaulted every sense now. He heard, he felt, he saw, he knew. They'd survive without him. They'd move on, free of his pretend life. Should he live, they'd spend their days catering to his addle-brained needs.

He met Hinamori's eye. He'd hurt her once, for her good, when Aizen had betrayed them and set her against him. He'd hurt her again in the war, when he'd gone after her former captain. Both times had wrenched his heart and swayed his resolve; he could never stand to see her plead or cry. Even when they were growing up, he actively avoided seeing her cry – and he'd do whatever he could to not be the cause of her tears.

But he'd turned on her when her loyalty was twisted and her heart led her wrong. It had been what she'd needed then, and it was what she needed now.

He would do it again. For once, the dragon was silent and Hitsugaya could see him in his mind's eye, quietly resigned to this. Ruby red eyes, always burning in defiance and passion, closed and the great head bowed. Hitsugaya remembered now, far more clearly than he ever had. The dragon was his strength, his soul, his partner. They were never at odds.

They weren't now. Hyourinmaru settled in his mind, waiting. Matsumoto stepped forward, hand held out, as Hinamori's eyes widened. Hitsugaya never turned to face the Hollow.

It's claws drove into his back, spearing his side. It wrenched him aside, threw him to the dirt, and through dimming vision Hitsugaya saw it turn to meet Hinamori's charge. He watched through half-lidded eyes, barely registering Matsumoto circling around the Hollow toward him. Hinamori should have her bit of revenge; if she killed the Hollow that killed him, maybe it'd ease her mind. He should at least watch. A fitting goodbye, maybe.

It would come soon.

~*~*~*~*~

Hinamori knew he was about to do something monumentally stupid as soon as he looked at her. It was done in a split second, but she knew him well enough to know what that hardening of his gaze meant and what the tight lines around his eyes and mouth meant. He was going to do something stupid, it wasn't going to be pleasant, and he thought it was for the good of the people around him. Rangiku gasped behind her; she knew that look almost as well as Momo.

Momo was moving forward before the Hollow attacked him, silently urging him to do isomething/i. He'd attacked Kotetsu-fukutaichou with kidou. Surely he could use that now. He was capable. He still had all the power he'd ever had. He was still a captain in the Gotei 13. Her breath caught in her throat and it felt like her heart stopped. When she'd found Aizen pinned to that tower long years ago, she had thought that was the single most horrifying sight in her life.

She'd been wrong. So very wrong.

She stumbled to a stop, watching as the claws pierced Hitsugaya's side and watching as it tossed him aside. She watched as he laid there, unmoving and bleeding, half-lidded eyes glazed and still looking at her. Momo watched and she damned herself for it.

Should have moved sooner. Should have leaped into action as soon as she saw him. Why did she stand there, looking at him for those precious few moments? What the hell was she thinking? She'd killed him. She'd killed him by standing there and not moving and, goddamn it, she should have found a way to help him earlier, before it came to this.

Suddenly angry, Momo rushed forward. Goddamned man, and damn herself while she was at it. She was nearly silent when she attacked, her zanpakutou shoving away the thing's claws. Teeth grit against the sound of claws on steel, Momo gathered her reiatsu and ipushed/i the Hollow back. Eyes narrowed, she draw her hand back, red light gathering in her palm.

She'd send this one to ihell/i for what it had done. She half-turned to find Hitsugaya and faltered.

He was looking at her.

What she'd assumed were dead, glazed eyes were following her every move. Rangiku knelt next to him, her scarf pressed against the wounds in his side and her worried gaze met Momo's angry one. Momo's brow furrowed, and she kept one eye on the Hollow as it recovered from her earlier blow. Hitsugaya was watching her. His fingers were clutching at the grass and he was looking straight at her.

She couldn't begin to figure out why, but if he wasn't gone yet, then he wasn't going to be going anytime soon, not if she finished off this Hollow quickly and set to work on him. She was decent with simple healing spells. She could stop the bleeding and they could get him home. Things would be just the same as before. He'd have his good days and his bad and someday, someday far too soon, they'd forget all this.

Something had brought him back enough that he'd nearly sacrificed himself in her presence. Hitsugaya was nothing if not single-minded. Something had triggered that monumentally idiotic move of his, and she knew good and well it had something to do with her. He had days where he was frustrated beyond belief, knowing he wasn't able to function, and she knew he resented it. She knew he hated being a burden. Was that it? Maybe he thought he was too much a burden. Momo knew that look he'd given her: he thought he'd been doing this for her.

Well, if that's the way it was going to be, then Momo would be damned if she didn't seize this opportunity. Hitsugaya had always had a hard, thick skull. He needed lessons learned to be beaten into him, sometimes in some pretty drastic ways.

Her gaze drifted to the Hollow and she waited, letting the kidou in her hand fizzle away and die. She let her sword drop and, just before it leaped at her, she called his name sharply. She turned her attention away from the Hollow completely, watching him.

Watching him blink. Watching him shove Rangiku away.

Watching him move and, even as the Hollow bore down on her, her heart unclenched and tears gathered in her eyes. She'd always marveled at how fast he was, even way back when, when he'd first come into the Gotei. He was still fast. Momo had always known he was one stubborn brat and far too determined for his own good. It had nearly killed him today.

He was still the same fast, stubborn brat of a kid who cared too much about others and not enough for himself. Momo swallowed hard when he interspersed himself between her and the Hollow, the blue light of a powerful soukatsui enveloping the Hollow. She wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him away when she heard Rangiku call on her zanpakutou to finish the job. They landed in a tangle of limbs and Momo quickly pulled away when she heard him grunt. The gentle green light of yudou enveloped her hand and she pressed it against the worst of the wounds in his side. With her other hand, she cupped his cheek and shook her head when he looked up at her.

"We still need you around," she said simply. Crazy or not, unable to function some days or not, he was still part of her family and it was about time he understood that.

She was sure she was going to cry when she saw that his eyes were clear.

Trust Hitsugaya Toushirou to have to learn it all the hard way.

Epilogue: A few months later

You're slacking.

Hitsugaya blinked several times at the message on the phone, then shook his head. He took a couple steps forward and stopped, looking around to make sure Matsumoto actually wasn't anywhere close by. He wouldn't put it past her to watch his every move. (Not that he was slacking, of course.) She dogged his footsteps, just like what seemed half of Seireitei did. He didn't give it too much though, though; half the time he needed it.

He'd never admit it.

Matsumoto always worried if he didn't answer right away. She would end up just showing up to peer over his shoulder before too long if he didn't answer her. He sent her back a short message -- it simply read shut up -- and tucked the phone into his sleeve. He'd ignore it now; he refused to get into some running argument via phone with her.

It would distract him anyway and that was the last thing he needed. He was supposed to be tracking down a Hollow. He couldn't do that and argue with Matsumoto. She, at least, seemed to understand that well enough, judging by the way she actually let him be when he was trying to focus on something. (Aside from the occasional poke and prod -- and sometimes message on the phone, if they were in the field -- of course. She was Matsumoto Rangiku and if Hitsugaya remembered one thing about her, it was that she was incapable of leaving him alone for any length of time. She certainly lived up to it. She probably wanted to make him feel comfortable. He wanted to strangle her half the time. Normal enough, he supposed.

He reached up and curled his hand around Hyourinmaru's hilt. His mind was wandering again; she knew better than to distract him. The dragon rumbled, firmly bringing him back on track.

He had a Hollow to take care of.

Carefully, he searched for it, refusing to bring out the phone to track it. He used to be good at sensing their presence; he did remember that, but he tried not to think about it too much. It frustrated him, to know he didn't have the control he used to have. That's when Hyourinmaru or Hinamori or Matsumoto -- hell, even Abarai sometimes -- reminded him that thinking about used-to-haves didn't help him relearn it all. He just needed to work on it. So he did, and he'd start by finding this damned Hollow without the help of the tracking devices in the phone.

He took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Clear his mind. Find the darker presence. It came to him a bit more slowly then he would have liked, but when it did, it was strong. Whether that meant this was a more powerful Hollow than anyone had thought or that he was actually getting better at this, he didn't know. It was to the west, not far. He dropped his hand from his zanpakutou's hilt and took another deep breath.

He was ready for this. Absolutely. First solo mission after... everything. He could handle it. He made his way in that direction, quickly and stepping carefully. His shunpo hadn't suffered, but he was still almost too deliberate in his movements. He wasn't even captain, really, anymore. The position would be waiting for him, when he could take it.

Shouldn't be too long. He'd managed shikai a couple weeks ago. He and Hyourinmaru were speaking, working through things, again. Bankai would come soon.

That's just how it was.

Hitsugaya jumped from rooftop to rooftop, finally landing on the building closest to the Hollow's reiatsu signature. He didn't see it, but he could feel it. Its presence pressed in from all sides; it was close. He drew his sword.

The sliding metal became the only sound on the rooftop in that instant. For a moment, he wasn't there anymore: the flat roof became gray desert sand. The still air was cold and dry. In that moment, even Hyourinmaru was silent. A piercing beep brought him back to reality and he half-jumped, blinking as he patted his sleeve for the phone.

Someone had either the best timing, or the worst. He wasn't sure. He dug the phone out, sword in one hand, and flipped it open. He stared at it, eyes widening, as he just realized what he was looking at.

His phone was telling him there was a Hollow here. With a snarl, he dropped it as he turned on his heel. Too close, too close. Far too close. Its dark presence was on him. Hitsugaya swung his sword as he turned, cursing under his breath. He was an idiot, letting himself get distracted. A damned idiot who was going to get his head bitten off if he didn't duck.

He missed on his first swing; he hadn't really expected to hit anything, though. The Hollow -- a scorpion-like thing with a pair of fangs longer than he was tall -- skittered to the side, deftly avoiding Hitsugaya's swing. Hitsugaya danced backward as the Hollow regrouped and attacked again. One of its clawed hands swung at him and he blocked it, sliding backward a few steps. Stupid, stupid thing, checking on the phone just then. He hadn't had a chance to set himself and actually attack.

Hitsugaya thought he actually had it as he pushed the claw away. He went to follow through, to attack while the thing was still reeling.

He should have made sure it was actually reeling first.

Something caught him in mid-air and sent him tumbling to the rooftop. He landed hard, breath driven out of him, then rolled to a stop, patting at the rooftop for Hyourinmaru's hilt. His hand had just wrapped around it when the Hollow roared and lunged toward him. He rolled, trying to keep the sword between him and the Hollow, and came up to his feet with just enough time to see where the damned thing was.

Hard to miss, since those fangs were bearing down on him.

"Soten ni zase." This should worked; he couldn't help the moment of doubt, but the dragon rumbled in anticipation. "Hyourinmaru!" He swung the sword in a narrow arc and ice erupted from the blade.

The Hollow didn't stand a chance. Hitsugaya didn't even hear its dying scream in the crashing ice. Hitsugaya simply stood there for a moment, sword held tightly. This was nothing new; he should be able to walk away without having sudden flashbacks of other battles. The neglected phone started beeping insistently, pulling him from his thoughts before he could drift too far away.

Oh. Matsumoto or Hinamori. They would have felt Hyourinmaru. He stepped toward it, wincing as he sheathed his sword. Now his midsection hurt, where the thing's tail had slammed into him; damned adrenaline ebbing away. He ended up just forgetting to crouch for the phone. Better to kneel carefully. He answered the phone with a breathless grunt.

"Are you all right?" Hinamori's voice was carefully neutral. She knew how much he hated being fretted over.

"Hollow's down," he responded.

"Good to hear," she chirped. "I'll be there in a minute."

He grunted and hung up the phone. Of course she would. She had to check on him; she always did. He found he didn't mind it so much. When he drifted, he sometimes needed someone to bring him back. Wasn't sure he was really drifting this time, but... Well, this was Hinamori and she would want to be here after he did not mess up his first solo mission in a very long time.

He tucked the phone back into his pocket and climbed to his feet, hand pressed against his side. Maybe next time he'd remember to watch out for the tail. Or maybe even ignore his phone when a Hollow was breathing down his neck. Hinamori's reiatsu flickered on the edge of his perception and he focused his attention on her.

He wouldn't drift. Not this time.

He was getting better at this.

And... the end. Save for edits, which means this might get reposted later on with longer (and probably fewer) chapters, just because I really think it would flow better that way. Someday, perhaps. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed.

~Kel