"Why? Why can't I remember anything? As hard as I am trying, it just slips away…"

Hyōrinmaru sighed as he buried his face in his frozen hands, now knowing what he had forgotten, or how to remember it. Ever since he was released from Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Zanpakutō, he had forgotten his own name, and who his master was. The only one he knew – and could understand at the moment – was no-one less but Haineko, Rangiku Matsumoto's Zanpakutō. Somehow, he and the ash cat spirit had become closer these days in their relation, and hopefully, it would remain that way for at least a few more days. He sighed as he gave up his seemingly fruitless attempt on recovering his memories, and stood up from the rock he had been sitting on, beginning to walk off. His frozen feet made footsteps made of frost as he walked, and his cold aura made the air around him dim slightly, and small snowflakes fell from his teal hair as it waved slightly in a breeze. He sighed again, before he leaped off into the air, as a pair of frozen wings extended from his back, a trail of snow behind him as he was in midair, flying off into the distance.

"Wonder if she is around here somewhere… the one that I care for so much." He spoke to himself, as he wondered where Haineko was. He had met her around the north-west areas of Soul Society's forests last time, where there was a frozen lake. Well, it was not frozen, until he had arrived there, and he had frozen it for them to skate on it. He did not participate in such childish activities at all, if he had a choice. But that cat sure knew how to draw out his 'inner child'. He sighed happily as he remembered that time.

"No, I told you. I don't want to." Hyōrinmaru had surely said 'no' for the one-hundred and eight time around to the stubborn ash cat that he did not want to skate. Not that he wanted to offend Haineko with her request; he just did not feel that he was the person to ask for such an activity. "It is officially inappropriate of me to do so. End of discussion." Haineko simply crossed her arms and pouted her lower lip a bit.

"Aaaaw, why so serious, darling?" she asked with a slight giggle at the end, holding Hyōrinmaru's shoulder lightly. Hyōrinmaru simply shrugged her hand off, clearly not wanting her attention right now. Haineko was however stubborn – if not very playful – at the moment, and simply grabbed Hyōrinmaru's hand without warning the Ice-style Zanpakutō Spirit. "C'mon now! You need to cheer up a bit!" Haineko said as she dragged him out on the ice.

"N-No! Stop it at once, let me go!" Hyōrinmaru protested, but Haineko kept dragging him out on the icy lake, and then began to sort of 'dance' with him on the ice, slowly making movements on it as well. "H-Haineko, this is embarrassing…" he said lowly to the werecat Zanpakutō Spirit.

"Naaaw, c'mon darling! This is fun, you know it." Haineko giggled a bit, still skating with the ice dragon spirit, who was disliking every minute of it, until he finally gave up on trying to resist it, and found himself skating with Haineko. "See! I told you that you would like it!" she said with a happy smile. Hyōrinmaru allowed himself to chuckle slightly, as he stopped both himself and Haineko, looking down at the cat's puzzled expression.

"Yeah, it is." He admitted with another chuckle, and gently stroked his frozen hand along her hair, his fingers easily slipping through her deep-brown hair. "Haineko… there is something I've been waiting for a long time now to tell you, but all the times I have so wanted to tell you, I've been locked inside Tōshirō's Zanpakutō, not being able to tell you how I feel." Haineko felt that somehow, she was flattered of what the dragon had to tell her, and her blush slowly formed on her small, cute cheeks. Hyōrinmaru noticed this, and gently fondled one of her red-colored cheeks. "No need to blush, Haineko."

"I-I know, but you're just so sweet." Haineko said shyly. For once in her life, she was actually shy. Her words were stammered, and her blush only grew as the ice dragon's hand touched her cheek. "I-I really don't know what to say, Hyōrinmaru. You're so sweet and kind right now, and it makes me feel really warm inside. I don't know what it is, but… I think that I love you." Hyōrinmaru was both surprised and pleased to hear this come from Haineko. He had also adored her for some time now, but never found the words to express his feelings for her. He chuckled again, before gently touching her chin, lifting it slightly so she could look into his grey eyes. They were glimmering with the shine of a thousand ice crystals, yet the grey color made it feel like they were lifeless and… cold. But he was the most warm-hearted of the Zanpakutō Spirits, in her opinion.

"I think I do too." He admitted, smiling down at Haineko once again. "But let's not linger here. There is one place I want us to be… alone. My domains. I want you to meet me there, ok?" he did not want to be so mysterious at the moment, but he had to. If the other Spirits would see them, they'd probably make a mockery out of him, and that would be worse than death to live through. Haineko understood this, and nodded slowly.

"Okay then… let's meet there…" she said, before Hyōrinmaru flew off with his frozen wings, leaving Haineko to watch him leave.

Hyōrinmaru came back to his senses as he noticed a great dome of ice beneath him. This was his 'home', as he would call it. The dome itself was actually just a pit of ice pillars and frozen rocks, and with a deep-frozen lake at the bottom of it. He dove down towards it, and landed near it, his wings folding into his back again. He hoped he would find Haineko near here, and soon he did. He looked down into the dome of ice, seeing the shape of a werecat sitting on one of the many plateaus made of ice, looking down at the frozen lake. He smiled as he leaped down the dome, landing gracefully behind Haineko, who was a bit startled as she looked back, but smiled as she knew who it was.

"You kind of scared me, Hyōrinmaru." She giggled, before standing up and walking up to him, her hand resting on his chest. Hyōrinmaru savored the touch given to his toned chest, and soon his own, frozen hand rested on her own. He felt it being near his beating heart, and he could hear the cat spirit purr in delight as she felt it in her palm. "Your heart seems to be the only thing that is not frozen in you. That is good, darling. Because I love cold guys with a warm heart…" Hyōrinmaru merely chuckled, and had his other hand on Haineko's head, the icy fingers gently playing with strands of her brown hair as a smile lit up on her face.

"At least we are together now, Haineko." The ice dragon smiled, his hand now stroking down her neck and to one of her shoulders, where he teasingly scratched at her bare skin. The ash cat mewed in delight as Hyōrinmaru's talons gently scratched her shoulder, and her hands ventured upwards to his own neck, and gently wrapped her hands around it, pulling herself closer to his face. "You waste no time, do you?" he chuckled as he saw the playful smile on Haineko's face.

"Nope, darling. You know what I want, so you better give it to me right here and now." Haineko giggled, her right hand playing with strands of Hyōrinmaru's teal hair, curling some of it in her fingertips before loosening them into the breeze. Hyōrinmaru merely smirked at this request, as his hands directly went from her hair and neck to her firm rear, giving it a light squeeze. The cat let out a loud 'meow' of surprise before jumping up on Hyōrinmaru, her arms holding around his neck and her legs locked around his back. "You pervy dragon!" she smirked with a giggle, drilling one of her fists into the side of his scalp in a playful noogie. Hyōrinmaru laughed a bit before his hands eased up the grip on her firm ass. He held his hands in place to make sure Haineko did not fall down, before looking deep into her eyes. She returned the favor by gazing down on his grey/silvery eyes before moving her head closer to his. "Give me what I want, now." She demanded in a playful tone.

"Then I shall give you what you want." Hyōrinmaru said, before he responded to her demand by locking his cold lips with hers in a tongue-induced kiss. Haineko was moaning softly into his mouth, having to close her eyes to allow her mind to wrap around the instant pleasure that had surrounded her, and she pulled herself even closer to his head, deepening their kiss. Their tongues danced an intricate dance in their mouths, and the ice dragon's hands gently massaged the werecat's butt in order to increase the pleasure she felt. And she did, as her moans became louder and more frequent, the pleasure sending ripples through her body as they kissed. There was no one around. Only the two of them, and that was fine. As the kiss finished, the string of saliva connecting their lips slowly froze to ice, and then dissolved as snow in the wind. Both of the Zanpakutō Spirits smiled at each other, before Hyōrinmaru managed to sit down with Haineko in his lap, and then laid down as Haineko was on top of him. "Let's sleep, Haineko. It's getting late." He insisted, and Haineko nodded, before she rolled to his side and cuddled up to the ice dragon spirit.

"Good night, Hyōrinmaru." She said as a cute yawn slipped past her lips and her eyelids closed. Hyōrinmaru stayed awake for a few more minutes, just to watch her sleep. He smiled down at her graceful body, her chest heaving slightly as she breathed, and her face still having its innocent charm and that cute little smile on her lips. He stroked her hair before his eyelids grew heavy as well, and he fell asleep next to his beloved ash cat, holding her close to his body.