Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
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Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
As with most chapters featuring Toshio and Harribel, this one as mostly written by Black Fox.

Undertow

There was something satisfying about popping amanatto into one�s mouth, hearing the �crunch� of the beans as their hard, sugary exteriors gave way under one�s molars and the rewarding rush of dark brown caramelized, creamy sweet-bean goodness hit the tongue a few seconds later. The produce stands still contained winter vegetables and ripe watermelons remained only a distant, un-germinated hope, so candied azuki beans it was. It wasn�t that hard of a compromise, considering how hungry he�d been of late.

He�d wanted to dig into the bag on the way home from the marketplace, but restrained himself out of long habit and a desire to avoid looking like an over-eager twelve-year-old. It wouldn�t do to have a seated Taichou be seen stuffing his face with sweets in the middle of the street. Therefore, as much as his gut and his sweet tooth snarled at him to cast caution to the wind and inhale the candies the moment the confectioner dropped them into his hands, he kept the bag tucked into his uniform as he made his way home. The trade-off for his dignity was a growling stomach.

�Where did lunch go? The only thing I accomplished this afternoon involved paperwork and a planning session with four of my seated officers. I shouldn�t be this ravenous.�

Hyorinmaru, in a voice that rumbled up to him from the depths of his inner world, chose that moment to voice his opinion.

�Power requires sustenance. Training requires sustenance, as does your latest growth spurt. How are your joints feeling, by the way? Do they still ache on occasion?�

�They�re much better, thank you for asking.�

Sighing inwardly, Hitsugaya Toshiro could only acknowledge the wisdom his Zanpakuto whispered to him, his sandals pointing his body down the street that would lead to the house Harribel and her girls had staked out as their �den�. Fortunately, it wasn�t all that terribly far from his Division, a twenty-minute walk at most and that was if he decided to dawdle. It didn�t hurt that his stride had grown longer in the last five years, mirroring the rest of him. He supposed that a foot-and-a-half in height and sixty pounds of accompanying muscle would require ingesting a few more meals. The renewed battles with the Swarm and the frequent use of his Bankai also meant that he felt as if he was running on empty half of the time.

He could remember his appetite as a child, which seemed just this side of insatiable before Matsumoto had dragged him out of the western Rukongai districts to the Academy and the plentiful food available there. At the time, Toshiro knew for a fact that he could almost eat his own weight in watermelon if given half a chance and an adequate supply of fruit. These days his cravings varied, but usually came down to either protein or sweets. He�d consumed at least three bowls of fish and rice for lunch, something Sung Sun glibly commented on once Hana excused herself from the table and left to catch some sleep before her scheduled night patrol. Toshiro grimaced a little, thinking about it. Two of his fellow pedestrians saw his expression, combined with the Taichou�s haori and hurried to give him a wide berth as they passed him, but he hardly noticed their discomfort.

No, today�s cravings had little to do with his perpetually empty stomach. Instead, he�d purchased them to placate his nerves. He and the rest of the household had come dangerously close to walking off of a cliff that none of them had realized was there. After Hana had left, he�d met Harribel�s eyes and to his dismay, she actually seemed a bit� well, �shaken� wasn�t a word he�d ever use to describe her. �Taken aback� seemed a closer fit.

It wasn�t his place to say anything, especially when Hana inadvertently revealed just how in the dark she was about what happened fifteen years ago. Harribel must have felt his heart leap into his throat when Mila Rose brought up what might have become a very explosive topic of conversation. Thankfully, his �mistress� was perceptive. She�d managed to get the three airheads that served as her fraccion to button their lips before they could dredge up something dangerous.

This was exactly why he was no fan of idle chitchat. It was too easy to say the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time even under the best of circumstances. His grandmother had once given him a few words of advice as a boy, before he�d left for the Academy, and that bit of wisdom had kept his hide intact on more than one occasion in the long years since then. �It�s better to stay quiet and be thought a fool by others than to open one�s mouth and remove all doubt.� It was good advice, particularly useful at the Taichou level.

Toshiro had kept his thoughts to himself until Hana left, and then quietly looked at Harribel. There was enough concern in her ocean-coloured gaze to make him wonder if they�d drawn the same conclusions.

�I think it might be a good idea to speak with Ise-Taichou regarding this issue,� he ventured.

The blonde sitting across from him had nodded, breaking eye contact with him and gazed pensively into her bowl at the few remaining grains of rice in it. Yes, �taken aback� was apt. He guessed that Harribel had overlooked this subject when she and Nanao worked out the details of Hana�s fraccion-hood.

�As usual, you�re very astute. I�d no idea she was unaware of what transpired.�

�I�m so sorry, Mistress! I had no idea�� Mila Rose began earnestly enough, before Apache leaned across the table and snapped at her fellow fraccion, cutting the budding apology short with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

�Well, that�s so unusual!� she sneered, gesturing at the empty seat at the table, the one Hana had recently vacated. �Why don�t you think before you open your fat mouth?�

The third girl at the table sniffed behind her sleeve at her sisters when Mila Rose appeared to take umbrage with the �fat� comment.

�You�re being childish, Apache. We didn�t know ��

�As if you�re one to talk?� Apache rounded on Sung Sun, mismatched eyes widening, before she placed her laced fingers below her chin and raised her voice an octave or two, imitating the other in a mocking fashion. �Oh, Hana, it�s so wonderful to see you get along so well with the First, considering your history!�

Toshiro, not wanting to return to his office with a headache whose origins he could trace to yet another pointless argument between the three, placed his chopsticks down, stacked the third bowl he�d finished on top of the other two and stood up abruptly. His actions put an immediate halt to the bickering and Harribel�s girls all looked up at him in mid-snark. Harribel, for her part, picked up her teacup and took a sip of the contents as he bowed.

�Mistress, I need to get back to the Division as well. If you don�t mind, I would like to arrange a meeting with Ise-Taichou tomorrow morning, to let her know of this incident. With your permission, I would like to find out why Hana remains in the dark regarding her father. It�s likely that, given her dual position as both a seated officer with the 3rd Division and as a member of your fraccion, she will learn of the events of the battle in a way that will� end badly.�

Harribel had listened to his words, swirling the tea in her cup a bit, as she considered them.

�I agree. Thank you, Toshiro. Mila Rose, Apache, Sung Sun, can I count on you three to keep this to yourselves, now that we�re aware of the gap in young Hana�s understanding? If the First does not want her to know the details of the battle, I do not want to incur the collective anger of Coyote Starrk and Lilinette Gingerback by informing her of them. Their goodwill is far too important to risk.�

�Oh, yes, Harribel-sama!!� the three had gasped and Toshiro had tried very hard not to let her feel his irritation at her underlings before he bowed again and made a hasty retreat back to his office. If he were the sort of man to waste money on gambling, he would have placed all of his coinage on at least one of them forgetting within a week and letting the proverbial cat out of the bag.

When he arrived home he found the front gate open, but the door locked, which wasn�t unusual. What was unusual, once he�d crossed the threshold, was the lack of reiatsu signatures. No one was home. Toshiro frowned and while removing his haori and scarf, noticed a small, sealed envelope on the shelf where he stored the treasured garment. He gingerly picked it up and unfolded the note it contained, holding it up to a late afternoon sunbeam to read it.

Toshiro � Aizen-kami requires my presence at the Palace. I�ve sent my fraccion to find their evening meal and entertainment elsewhere. Please dine without me, as I am unsure when I will return. � Harribel

He frowned. �Summoned to the Palace� could have any number of connotations, both good and ill and it would do no good to worry until he�d read what she left him.

The note, much like the woman herself, only told him what she felt he needed to know. Toshiro wasn�t certain whether that was for his own protection or because there was nothing to actually be concerned about. He hoped it was the latter. Still, the timing seemed strange to him. Aizen usually called for his Espada in the morning, or a few hours after a battle, once they�d had a chance to work out their �urges� with their �pets�. Toshiro thought he was extremely lucky in that regard; Harribel chose to partake of her girls after battles, since Mila Rose, Apache and Sung Sun were usually in a similar state and the four could work out their collective lusts with one another, rather than subjecting him to what would probably amount to a bruising orgy. He, on the other hand, typically spent his time dealing with the after battle mop-up.

That she�d sent her girls out for the evening told him nothing either. Harribel could be rewarding them for something, or she could be getting them out of the way of something ugly. He had no way of knowing. Maybe the usurper had decided on yet another pointless meeting with his top minions.

A growling, gurgling sound interrupted the brief silence in the foyer as he twirled the note between his fingers. Toshiro silently cursed his belly. As concerned as he was about Aizen calling Harribel to the Palace on short notice, he decided that worrying on an empty stomach was a waste of time, as would inhaling the amanatto tucked into his uniform. An early dinner now held far more appeal than candy.

First food, then maybe a bath. It was rare he had the house to himself and he planned on enjoy the peaceful quiet.

He sank a little deeper into the bath for a few minutes and closed his eyes. While he wasn�t a huge fan of heat in general, the hot water in which he currently steeped worked to loosen a couple of muscles in his back and the shoulder he�d strained during the last encounter with the Swarm. He ought to have someone look at it, but the 4th Division was full of patients who needed healing more than he did; going in to deal with a muscle strain seemed petty. His training over the years dictated that he simply accept aches and pains as occupational hazards. It also didn�t hurt that the elaborate sunken bath was deep enough and large enough for him to submerge himself if necessary.

The house that Harribel had chosen after the war wasn�t overly large or ornate, at least from the outside. The former owners chose to sink their extra money into the place by spending it on the pond and the sitting area out back as well as the generously appointed, heated and luxuriously tiled bathing chamber. His private room had a small adjoining bath with a shower and he used it most of the time. However, with the promise of a fraccion-free evening, a newly full stomach and some peace and quiet, he�d decided to risk it and indulge in a long, proper soak and a chat with his Zanpakuto. Toshiro had wrapped Hyorinmaru in a dry towel, to protect the blade from the steam and now rested one hand on the terry-cloth packet while they communed in the glacial confines of his inner world.

He, at least, saw the irony of mentally gasping in the frigid air of his mind�s interior while his body soaked in a bath heated to just below boiling. He could also sum up his Zanpakuto�s mood in one word: surly.

�It�s far too warm for my liking. You should numb that strain with ice.�

�I already did that, more than once. If it isn�t better in two days, I�ll have someone see to it.�

�The Swarm will come again in that time. You might have a new set of injuries then.�

�If I do, it will be because I didn�t move fast enough��

��or it�s because you put yourself at risk for the one that holds you captive, like last time.�

Ah, here was the real reason behind Hyorinmaru�s irritability the past few days. Toshiro let out a long sigh and prepared for the frosty-mannered dragon to have at him.

�I was wondering when you were going to say something about that.�

�You grow too used to the chains that keep you bound. We were meant to fly with the storms, not bob on the waves, tethered by an anchor.�

Toshiro gave his weapon a slightly derisive snort and ran his wet fingers though his slicked-back, wet hair.

�Don�t tell me you dislike having the opportunity to freeze the opponents that she traps for us.�

�Boy, you use the word �opportunity� too blithely. The opportunity for freedom, for escape was there and you kicked it away!�

�No, I shoved it away. Correction, we froze it, then kicked it and shattered it so that it fell to the ground. Acid is a terrible way to die. All I lost was the sole of my sandal when it made contact.�

�Pulling her out of the way in the first place earned you that strain.�

Well, that was true, Toshiro thought and he stretched the muscles gingerly in the hot water. One of the beetles on the ground had shot a wide stream of greenish-gray acid at Harribel while her back was turned. They�d been busy turning roughly ten locusts into ground-bound chunks of ice. Had he turned on his heel in midair any later than he did, he might not have had the precious few moments he needed to stretch his arm out, clamp his hand around Harribel�s upper arm and roughly yank her against him. It took only seconds for him to react with Hyorinmaru�s power and freeze not only the stream itself, but the head of the beetle that spewed the stuff. Pivoting on one leg and using Harribel as a counterweight to the kick, he�d destroyed it, the icy chunks plummeting down to disappear in the wintery underbrush.

The whole thing had lasted less than the space of a few heartbeats, and they�d hung there together for a few more, Harribel wide-eyed, as he�d swiftly finished the manoeuvre. He realized two things in the aftermath. First, more than a few distracting parts of her anatomy were flush up against him, one arm from each of them wrapped around the other�s waist to keep their balance. The second was that the little acid it had met when he�d broken the frozen stream was rapidly eating the sole of his sandal. He�d reached down and quickly stripped both sandal and tabi away. She�d stared at him with those eyes of hers, stunned by what he�d done before he stood back and let her go.

Then it was right back into the fray, the incident behind them as they�d worked their way through more of the enemy lines. Toshiro fought the rest of the battle, thankfully conducted as an aerial defence, with only one foot shod. She�d said nothing to him afterward and he didn�t bring it up, but Toshiro knew that Hyorinmaru would have a few unpleasant things to say to him.

�You have a point. Nevertheless, you know that her Claim isn�t the only thing keeping me here. Aizen will take out every Shinigami in my Division, including Hana, if I cut and run and you know it. He won�t care that it will further destabilize the Realms, as long as he appears to be in control of Soul Society. He holds all of the Taichou by the same leash. I can only imagine what he used to threaten Unohana-Taichou to get her marry him and share his bed every night.�

�Are you telling me that you play the obedient lap dog for a higher purpose?�

That was uncalled for, in his opinion, but he understood where Hyorinmaru was going with his reasoning. The young man countered with a line of logic based on his observations over the years.

�Aizen set up the most powerful of us to have to rely on our captors for protection from his laws. Either we submit to a Claim, by force or by our own choice, or Aizen�s threats hold us hostage. There�s no way out of the Soul Society for any of us right now. If she�d been injured or killed, we would have been free for only a short while. Szayel guards every Senkaimon from his domain. How far do you really think we could have gotten without a reliable way to the Living World?�

When the great ice dragon remained silent, chewing on that bit of information, Toshiro decided to follow it up with a little honesty. It was hard not to be truthful when one�s inner world consisted of slabs of ice that could reflect any hint of duplicity or self-delusion.

�Perhaps I owe her for not killing us when she had the chance, during the War. She says that she fought all-out against me� but I suspect that was a lie. She wants me for other reasons.�

�Your ego has increased in size as well. I think I liked you better when you were younger and you didn�t think with your gonads as often.�

Toshiro conceded that maturity came with a few unanticipated, if enjoyable, side effects. At least, even if he hadn�t entirely anticipated them, Toshiro felt it wouldn�t be a stretch to say that Harribel had predicted and engineered their current arrangement after the first few minutes of swordplay.

�You forget, Hyorinmaru, the control we�ve gained in the last five years. She saw our potential long before we did. I�ve matched it against those chains you so despise for the last fifteen years and in our efforts to overcome them, we�ve grown stronger.�

Hyorinmaru gave him a guttural, disgusted grumble, enough to vibrate the ice around the dragon.

�Yes, you�ll make a fine stud animal� or a drone, trained by the workers to please the queen. What happens when that man-eater gets what she wants from you? What purpose will she have for you then?�

Toshiro opened his eyes and staring at the ceiling as he floated back up from his frosty, inner world. Five years ago he�d nearly slaughtered her fraccion for ruining the last pieces he�d salvaged of his old life and instead of punishing him for it, his mistress reacted by letting him in on her long-term plans. Then, for the first time, she�d taken him to bed without the benefit of an audience, refreshed her Claim on his person and abruptly changed his status within the household. All three of these things had duly �blown his mind� as they said in the Living World.

At least, within the confines of these walls, he was no longer strictly a �pet�. The girls didn�t exactly accede to him, but after they�d thawed out their behaviour in private changed dramatically. They�d also stopped groping him at those moronic parties that Aizen threw on occasion and now acted as the servants they claimed to be. Harribel allowed him to socialize away from her side with Karin, Nanao and Ukitake, on the pretext of discussing Division business, though she chose to simply sit, drink her tea and observe the room.

It didn�t escape him, as he was sure that it hadn�t escaped her or Aizen for that matter, that there were a few, informal coalitions forming, centered around the combined household formed by the First and the Sixth, with the Seventh�s household swept up into it by virtue of Grimmjow�s second active Claim. The households of the Fourth and to a much lesser extent, the Fifth moved like satellites around it thanks to Orihime and Tatsuki and their ties to the other lone human, Karin. In contrast, the households of the Third, the Second and the Tenth remained islands unto themselves, those within them isolated.

In a Soul Society governed by a psychopath, Toshiro knew that �isolated� equalled �vulnerable.� It also didn�t escape him that most of the members of that informal stronghold were the parents or guardians of the hybrid children born to the captives and their �owners.� Consciously or unconsciously, those Espada with something to lose were circling the wagons and if he�d seen it, he had no doubt that Harribel was aware of it as well.

He�d wondered why his mistress agreed to help Ajuga and Hana so readily and the latest social configurations amongst Aizen�s elite, he believed, held the answer. The most utilitarian explanation was usually the correct one, in his experience. If Toshiro had been in Harribel�s position, he wouldn�t have hesitated to forge an alliance with Starrk�s motley household either. The only question rolling around in his head at present was whether her motives for doing so were what he thought they were.

If so, they needed to have a chat about more than just the problem they�d encountered today with Hana.

His mind wandered to other things, like the bag of sweets he�d left on the small table in his room and the book that Hana-chan had handed him today, a loan from Ukitake�s substantial Estate library. The moon would be full tonight, the night crisp and cold, he had a small supply of candy and he could probably talk himself into making a private moon viewing for himself on the back porch. There ought to be enough moonlight to read Basho�s collective works and enjoy some tea while he was at it. Closing his eyes again, Toshiro allowed himself the luxury of looking forward to a peaceful evening of poetry and solitude.

Then he heard the vibration of the heavy, cedar door sliding open and Harribel�s unmistakable footfalls as she approached the sunken bath and the young man in it.

�Ah well� what is it they say about the best-laid plans?� he wondered.

�You�ve returned.�

He said this without opening his eyes. From where the sound of her steps stopped, he guessed that she was next to one of two carved cedar benches along the wall. Then he heard the whisper of cloth as she began removing her uniform and boots.

�Yes. The meeting was shorter than I originally anticipated. I trust you�ve eaten already?�

�Yes. I found the meal left for me in the kitchen. Thank you.�

She made a noise of acknowledgement before he heard the shower engage, which let him know that any fears he had about her sudden summons to wait on Aizen yet again hadn�t resulted in any harm to her. Cracking one eye open, he saw that she�d stripped out of her hakama, obi and her scandalously cropped jacket. She�d tucked her black boots neatly away under the bench. The view of her backside, her caramel-coloured curves dripping with hot water, soap suds, blonde hair and braids water-darkened to a bronze color turned his thoughts from tea and moon viewings to other, less cerebral pastimes.

Hyorinmaru was probably onto something about his libido. However, it was hard not to think with things other than his brain when confronted by such a sight. Toshiro thought that, having dealt with Matsumoto Rangiku as a Fukutaichou for all those years, he would have developed either an earlier appreciation for Harribel�s body type or a complete immunity to its charms. That neither had occurred sometimes puzzled him, but if he and Hyorinmaru had to be confined in order to keep going, in the hope that Aizen would one day make one mistake too many and lose his throne and his life, he could think of far worse captors.

That was another reason, he told himself, that he�d pulled her away during the fight. His other potential Claimers appealed far less to him than remaining where he was.

She turned around briefly, met his gaze and Toshiro liked to think he was past the stage in their relationship where her nudity could embarrass him. He�d seen all four of the women he lived with at one point or another and in enough erotic configurations to cause some permanent nosebleeds in the barracks if published in a pin-up calendar format. Still, he preferred to think that the pink stain across his cheeks was the result of the hot water and the steam. The Claim would make any desire on his part known to her in a heartbeat anyway. There was little use in pretending disinterest and acting deliberately coy wasn�t his style.

When she�d finished the cleansing part of the bath, wringing the last of the soap and the conditioner from her hair, she turned off the water and casually padded over to the spot where she�d laid her clothing. Harribel picked up Tiburon, pulled her weapon from the sheath and uttered the command for her Resurrección�s release.

Toshiro was very glad that he�d wrapped Hyorinmaru in a thick towel and for the fact that whoever built the bathing chamber had made it sturdy. The sheer amount of power and the water that materialized while shifting her form would have blown down his grandmother�s old place and left nothing but the foundation. Which, he suspected, was why she�d come to him that night in her released state, ready to Claim him rather than risking the roof coming down on their heads. Harribel carefully placed the changed blade back on the bench and the only sound was the slightly wet �splish-splash� of her bare feet on the tiles as she walked towards the steps leading into the sunken tub.

�So, it�s to be that sort of bath,� he thought with a mixture of anticipation and reflection, and sat up properly on the submerged stone bench. �I�d wondered how long it would last this time.�

A little over six months had gone by since the last time she�d Claimed him and with the renewed Swarm invasions, he hadn�t paid much attention to the waning power that girdled his. In the last five years, her Claims had gone from lasting nearly a year, to barely stretching for half that time. She always Claimed him with her released form. If she�d merely wanted pleasure from him, or her girls, she�d have kept her sealed state and her half-mask in place.

He waited until she�d immersed herself, the bones of her short skirt disappearing beneath the water and the long, pale appendages that fell from what remained of the mask across her shoulders trailing behind her like true fins.

�What did he want with you, Tia?�

One of her golden eyebrows went up at the question as she slowly approached, her hands and fingers leaving a rippling wake as she ran them just below the surface of the eight-foot square bath. Toshiro, now only chest-high in the hot water, spread both of his arms out to his sides along the edge of the tub, never taking his eyes off of her as she drew closer. The fact he ventured the question at all probably said more about what had changed between them over the last five years than anything else. The rest of Soul Society saw a dutiful, obedient, well-trained �pet� in Hitsugaya Toshiro. He even deferred to her before her girls, but when it was just the two of them, she allowed him to use her first name and to talk to her without the formality their official positions in Aizen�s Seireitei demanded.

�Aizen-Kami wanted to switch up the patrol zones he�s assigned to each of the Espada. Starrk has taken Barragan�s territory this evening, as part of his �punishment� for Lilinette�s absence from the regular patrols, since it�s denser and mostly woodland. It will require him to remain on full alert, something I�ve no doubt that the First will consider a nuisance. I have the new territory assignments, as well as the changes to our �stand-by� days, if you�d like to look at them later.�

Harribel sounded just a tad put out by this and that piqued his curiosity.

�Any idea why he changed things?�

She stood before him and he had an excellent view of the lower curve of her breasts, her darkened skin under-lit by the webbed reflection of the light hitting the waves she�d created while walking through the bathwater. His hand must have brushed the exposed tip of Hyorinmaru�s saya, because the ice dragon�s low-pitched voice snaked up to him from his resting place.

�You should just admit that you remain shackled to this predator out of choice.�

�Doing so is strategic. It�s best to ride out a storm above the waves, Hyorinmaru, for as long as I can and for as long as I must. I won�t turn down what benefits come with doing so.�

The dragons� parting words were on the scornful side.

�Waves you say? I fear that these waves, this undertow will drag you or rather, us, down with them, and worse, you�ll allow for your own drowning. You would be wise to consider my warning before she swamps you.�

He moved his hand away from his Zanpakuto, cutting off their private argument before he ended up having to explain it to her. Instead, he shoved the whole bundle, towel, sword and all, away and tilted his head back to look up at his �mistress� through hooded eyes as she spoke.

�I�ve found it prudent not to ask those kinds of questions, especially of late. He does what he does for his own reasons and we Espada obey, as we have since he elevated us.�

Toshiro frowned a little at her lacklustre answer, but he hadn�t exactly expected much in the way of details. There were no memos from the First Division regarding a change-up as of the time he left the office, but if this were one of Aizen�s spur-of-the-moment decisions, a packet would probably cross his desk tomorrow. If he were lucky, he�d be able to coordinate any disruptions to the schedule �Kami� might cause with Nanao, which reminded him�

�I�ve a meeting with Ise-Taichou tomorrow afternoon at around three. I believe Hana has evening patrol for the next few nights, so there�s little chance of her walking in on our conversation. I presume that you�d like to sit in on this?�

Harribel raised her left hand out of the bath, idly drawing a spiralling helix of water up with it as she twirled her fingers higher in the air before she let it fall back with a splash. Her eyes followed it up and down, as if contemplating the shape of the liquid before it rose beneath her fingers again, the water a little better formed than the first attempt. After fifteen years, he thought he could read her mannerisms and despite her assurances, she seemed� hesitant to him, even while standing in the middle of her element.

�I would like that, if only to avoid any mishaps.�

Trepidation wasn�t something he normally saw in her no matter how well she tried to hide it beneath her usually calm exterior. He wondered if she occasionally forgot that she was missing the lower half of her mask in this form, and that she couldn�t conceal her thoughts as easily without her high collar, especially when her lips parted and her mouth bent just so.

�Is the First�s goodwill that important to you then?�

He echoed the words she�d spoken earlier in the day, his voice going up a bit at the end. She gave him another one of those inscrutable gazes before moving to sit astride his lap. Coherent thought abruptly fled as she knelt on the stone bench, her inner calves flush with his outer thighs and the majority of the bones that made up her skirt sinking around her hips. Harribel�s fingers, starting with a surprisingly light touch at his collarbone, skimmed down his chest, over the defined muscles in his abdomen. They dipped below the waterline and carefully moved the remainder of the thin, blade-shaped bones out of the way, before they could damage parts of his anatomy that he knew the both of them might want to keep in working order for the next, say, fifteen minutes.

�Better his goodwill than his scorn� she replied quietly, her voice pitched low and tinged with a slight hint of doubt�or was it concern?

Toshiro nodded and his arms moved so that she could lean back against the hands he clasped just below the spot where her ribcage joined up with her backbone. When she�d finished dealing with the obstacle her Resurrección�s skirt represented, her fingers stayed where they were to slide along his lower belly. This did nothing for his focus, but with a little effort, he managed to return most of his attention to the discussion.

�It�s more than that, isn�t it?�

The fingers making a hash of his self-control paused.

�Perhaps,� she said slowly, eyes averted.

�What is it, Tia? Something�s troubling you, and it isn�t what happened at lunch.�

If there was any insistence behind his words, he mitigated it by gently easing his hands apart and sinking them into the tension he knew she held along her spine. Harribel gasped and placed her palms on his shoulders, her fingers playing with the soaked strands of silvery-white hair that clung there. She leaned back, and her eyes closed as he felt a few knots in her muscles give way. Toshiro might not be able to breach her Hierro, but he did know the exact spots on her back to press to earn a few sighs of relief and her gratitude for mitigating some aches.

�You didn�t seem very happy with what Sung Sun had to say.�

One of his pale eyebrows went up.

�About the three bowls of lunch? You can inform her I officially burned through them as of four in the afternoon. I�m apparently a growing boy and need my energy,� he stated with a slight smirk and pressed his hips upwards, his feet braced on the bottom of the tub. Harribel�s eyes went wide as he presented her with the physical results her little display under the shower and her fingers wrought on him, his length pushing up against her exposed core.

His hands moved down and dug into another knot, just above her tailbone. Toshiro watched, fascinated, as her flushed lips parted with a gasp and she had to flounder around for both a response and her poise.

�Not that. In the park.�

Frowning, Toshiro tried to recall what she was talking about, sorting through his recent memories. Then he remembered his chance meet-up with Abarai and his charge and he inwardly groaned as he harked back to his near-involuntary reaction to Sung Sun�s speculation and the resulting conversation about what their mistress�s child might look like. He hadn�t clamped down on his shock quickly enough, evidently. Vindula was a pretty thing, delicate, fairy-like and only a blind man would miss the fact that she had Abarai and his extensive tattoo collection twisted around her pinkie. By the time they�d parted ways with Harribel and her fraccion, he thought Mila Rose, Sung Sun and Apache were probably right there with the redhead when it came to the child. Nevertheless, expressing admiration for an adorable little girl was very different from flinging himself whole-heartedly into the fray of parenthood.

�Few men are ever entirely ready to be told that they�re going to be fathers. Or that someone is contemplating the choice for them.�

He kept working on the knots in her back, as much as her extensive mask would allow. In this form, he was unable to get to her shoulders. In her normal form, a kiss and her ability to fill him with the vast quantities of reiatsu necessary to keep his Claim intact were impossible, though he didn�t have to deal with her skirt when it came to satisfying the both of them on the nights she chose to come to him instead of her girls. His occasional frustration with the various obstacles her Arrancar mask presented at times was just one more thing he�d learned to deal with over the last half-decade when it came to the enigma sitting in his lap.

�Before the latest invasions, with the Defence Net in place, I thought there might finally be enough peace to undertake something like this, now that you�ve��

��come into enough power?� he finished and drew her closer by a few inches, so that he could feel something much warmer than the bathwater against his rapidly stiffening cock.

Her mouth opened a little wider and Toshiro watched the tip of her tongue dart out to catch a stray drop of water on her upper lip, the gesture nervous. Now he knew something was wrong. She was never nervous, never displayed apprehension about anything anyone tossed at her, be it by Aizen, her fellow Espada or the enemy insect horde.

�Among other things,� she murmured. �Then, during the last battle��

�So that�s it,� he realized.

Harribel�s words trailed off and she let her eyes dart away from his again. If he didn�t know any better, he would have said that she seemed hesitant to bring up what they hadn�t talked of since the last time the Swarm had thrown themselves against the Seireitei�s collective defenders. Toshiro�s hands stopped and he carefully let them slide down, beneath the water and underneath her skirt to cup her bare bottom.

�You could have let me be killed. You saw it coming. I did not.�

The acknowledgement of her own vulnerability might have been part of her reticence about talking of it, but to Toshiro, it sounded as if she was both anxious and a little curious about what he might say about the incident.

�This is new. She wouldn�t have given a damn about it five years ago.�

�True. I had this conversation with someone else today. He made the same observation.�

The woman above him graced him with a thoroughly confused look, until he made a gesture with his head to the towel behind him and the sword within it,

�Why didn�t you take the chance to escape?�

He chose not to answer her question right away. Instead, he let his fingers fan out from their place on her rump. Toshiro lifted her a little with the aid of the water around them and slid all ten back towards his body until at least six of them found what they were looking for. Her breath hitched as he took his time tracing her folds, moving them slowly up until he found his second objective, circling it with the lightest of touches. The reward was to watch a faint red stain creep across her cheeks and under the dark blue marks on either side of her face. Her fingers dug into his shoulders.

�Where would I go?� he replied in what he hoped was a reasoned tone of voice, meeting her heavy-lidded eyes. �Who would I sacrifice to Aizen if I did so? My Division would be on the chopping block, at the very least� among other things.�

Toshiro tossed her own, somewhat cryptic words back at her, while he teased her flesh.

�That�s� not exactly� what I meant�� she panted, the pauses enough evidence of just how unsettled she really was, whether about his reaction to Sung Sun�s speculation or because of the incident during the fight with the Swarm he still wasn�t certain. He couldn�t lie to her and his emotions were an open book if she so chose, so perhaps a series of carefully worded truths and admissions were what she needed, or maybe wanted to hear.

�Well,� he thought, figuring his Zanpakuto could flay him later for it, �nothing ventured, nothing gained.�

�It�s entirely possible that I didn�t want you to die, Tia. I�ve become� accustomed to our talks. I�ve grown appreciative of your perspective, since it seems to be the lone voice of sanity when it comes to your peers. You approach things with both reason and intelligence. There aren�t enough of those two qualities on this side of the Living World at present. It would be a shame to lose any more of either, because we can�t spare any these days.�

Maybe she had expected him to dissemble, or at least, toss off a less blunt explanation for his actions. If she felt like rooting around in his psyche for something deeper, she could do so. It wasn�t as if he could stop her. The finger delicately circling the small, swollen bundle of nerves at the apex of her sex bore down as he increased the pressure on it and her hands tightened into fists.

He�d reduced her breathing to a series of pants, her green-blue eyes glazing over. At some point, Toshiro thought he might have stepped over some line with her, challenged her authority, but so far, with his emotions matching his words, she�d shown no sign of wanting him to stop talking or touching.

�You chose me, Tia Harribel, and you�ve been one up on me for a very long time as far as your plans for �us� go�� he remarked in a low voice, leaving off his left hand�s actions to lift it, dripping from the bathwater to skim the skin at the back of her neck. Pulling her shoulders gently downward while sitting up straighter so that his mouth was close to her ear, he let her hear the truthfulness that laced his next words.

�Is it such a shock to you that I might come to reciprocate your regard someday, that I might also find something worthwhile in this� union in which we find ourselves? Something I didn�t want to see vanish in an acid spray?�

It probably wasn�t the most romantic thing he could have come up with, but neither of them were the sort of people to dress up things between them with useless ornament. Letting it speak for itself, or perhaps just keeping things simple seemed smarter.

�Maybe, Tia, I did so because I wanted to.�

He felt the slightest of tugs on his Claim, enough to get him to turn his head to the side. Long, tanned arms wrapped around his shoulders as she caught his mouth up in a suddenly fervent kiss and ran her hands through his wet, slicked-back hair. Her full breasts pressed between them, the ever-present portion of her mask that barely covered them and kept them in defiance of the laws of gravity pushing into his chest. While not entirely comfortable, he could live with it in exchange for the passionate battle going on between their tongues. The fingers he�d used to tease her entrance sank into her to the second knuckle and he curled them, swallowing the small, surprisingly needy sound she made. Her reiatsu curled around his ankles, part energy and part water current, working its way up his limbs to surround the two of them, at the same time he felt another tentacle of it start to trickle down his throat. The trickle became a river as he abandoned his ministrations and put a hand on her hip. Toshiro carefully positioned her and himself, letting out a long groan as her body slowly enveloped his shaft.

She seemed to want to set the pace this time, so he concentrated on the pleasure that accompanied her reiatsu, feeling it working its way along every strand of nerves he had. Each time her legs flexed he found himself repeatedly re-enclosed in her blissfully tight, velvety channel. Toshiro once again placed both hands on her lower back, but instead of hunting for tension, his feet sought purchase on the tub�s bottom, enough to give him some leverage to meet her halfway. He drank in both her reiatsu and her moans as the head of his shaft rubbed a spot inside of her that she very much liked.

More and more of her energy filled him and he wondered sometimes if the physical transformation he�d undergone in the last five years wasn�t due to the need for a vessel large enough to contain her raw power and his own. He already knew that she�d had to use more and more of it to accomplish her Claim and that doing so left her far more drained than it did ten, or even five years ago.

�Tosh� Toshiro� I�m�� he heard her breathe with kiss-swollen lips against and into his mouth, their tongues saturated with the taste of one another and the power she was busy pouring down his throat. He felt almost glutted, heavy with it. The coiling, tension at the base of his spine, the near-whirlpool around their bodies, stirred up by Harribel�s reiatsu, the friction he could feel as he thrust upwards into her clasping, slick heat told him that it wouldn�t be long now, for either of them. His eyes drifted open, only to find her looking at him with the same, lust soaked expression he knew was probably plastered across his own face.

�No,� he admitted, probably to Hyorinmaru�s everlasting chagrin,� I didn�t want to lose this.�

The blonde in which he was buried whispered his name in a way that he�d never heard before and it was enough to make him find the willpower to get to his feet, holding her to him and forcing her to cling to his shoulders or fall back into the bath. Startled, she pulled away, one hand gripping his bicep and the other tangled in his wet locks. His hands moved beneath the slatted bones of her skirt to dig into her ass and marginally lift her, only to have her slide back down his shaft, forcing himself up and into her as far as he could reach. His mouth, momentarily free, wandered across the wet, cinnamon-colored flesh of her breasts, lapping at the thin rivulets of water snaking over her skin, teeth scraping along bone fragments.

�Better than the amanatto I bought today and far more satisfying��

The hand in his hair yanked his head back, not terribly harshly but with enough strength to force him to abandon what he was doing with his tongue. Another thrust of his hips made those fingers of hers tremble and the long legs wrapped around his waist shiver as he kept at it. His turquoise eyes locked on those of the woman that referred to herself as his mistress. Maybe it was an apt title, as he brimmed, almost overflowed, with her reiatsu. Harribel leaned forward to capture his mouth, grinding down on him while pulling her power back to herself and with that, he knew he was done for. Something within him splintered along unseen fault lines as her reiatsu receded, bearing it away like a chunk of river ice wrenched free by the spring runoff. Toshiro drank in her sharp cry and her mouth sealed over his, as she abruptly came, her inner walls rhythmically pulsing and contracting around him. He made a strangling noise in his throat in response, following her over the edge.

The coil of tension gathered in his loins snapped and it was all he could do not to dunk the both of them as his legs began to shake too much to remain standing. Holding her to him in what felt like a death-grip, he sank back down in the middle of the bath, his mind filled with white static as he filled her in turn, gritting his teeth and trying not to do anything as undignified as screaming as he did so. She left a portion of her gold-tinged power behind, her Claim renewed and Toshiro became aware of it settling around him as he tried to catch his breath.

The cost to do so was high, however. Harribel fell bonelessly against him and Toshiro dragged the two of them over to the tiled steps, collapsing in a heap upon them as he pulled her up next to him, curling around her.

�Tia�� he breathed against the back of her ear, out of breath and exhausted from the Claiming ritual.

�That was� more than I expected.�

Her fatigued assessment, delivered in that sultry voice of hers, the one that made him think she�d spent the evening drinking sake in a smoke-filled room, put a slight smile on his face. For a man that didn�t smile often, Hitsugaya Toshiro decided that he agreed with it. Snaking a hand to rest on her lower belly, fingers lightly stroking the skin below her navel and above the beginnings of her skirt, he inched as close as the mask covering her shoulders would allow.

�Is this enough of an answer for you?� he inquired.

When her breathing returned to something resembling normal, she covered his hand on her abdomen with her own. He could still feel a few random muscle twitches that told him she hadn�t quite recovered from her orgasm yet. Something entirely too primitive for his tastes chortled gleefully in the back of his mind at this and he stuffed it down before she could take it the wrong way.

�Somewhat� she replied wearily. �Now that we�re better matched, I will need protection at some point.�

His body and his fingers went still and he fought down the sudden urge to bristle instinctively at the implication that he and Hyorinmaru wouldn�t be enough to put down an unruly Numeros or two, or twenty. Toshiro kicked this into the same corner to which he�d banished his earlier Neanderthal-like reaction and waited for his rational side to reappear.

�From the others?�

Her fingers tightened around his and she shook her head, blonde strands sending a few stray water droplets to land where they would.

�From the whims of Kami-sama.�

Now his eyes grew saucer-big and he froze. Such words, uttered anywhere else, could earn her and those beneath her a punishment the likes of which involved lost limbs. The statement was borderline treason and Toshiro knew it. She probably felt his surprise, because she leaned back against him, the water lapping at their waists.

�Aizen will not remain enamoured of those he toys with forever and will seek new ones in time. I saw it often enough with Barragan, this need for �variety� in one�s playthings. I wish to put as many layers as I can between his desires and those I consider mine. I do not doubt your force of will or your strength, little dragon, but as an Espada, Starrk and Lilinette are unrivalled. If I must, for the time that I�m weakened with our cub, I will ask for the First�s protection.�

The resolution in her voice made him think she�d been considering this move for a while. While it irritated him, he understood it in tactical terms. Toshiro was also gratified that he�d guessed right regarding a few of her underlying motives for accepting Hana.

�So when Grimmjow asked you to take the girls under your wing��

Harribel laughed softly and then leaned a little more heavily against the steps and him.

�It was fortuitous, though I would have done what Grimmjow asked for his daughter anyway. She could not remain ignorant of what it means to be a female Arrancar for long without incident.�

He nodded. Ajuga was, in his opinion, a nice, if extremely reckless young girl with very little idea of the sort of trouble that might lie in wait for her in her eagerness to �help.� Then again, he�d known Karin as a girl and she�d had many of the same tendencies at that age, like running towards a fight rather than away from it, an inherited Kurosaki trait, even if he knew better than to bring that up.

�Would Starrk and Lilinette be able to stand against him?�

He got the part about the two of them merging to become a monstrously powerful whole. He�d seen it once, the sky full of endless, exploding Ceros and he didn�t care to see that kind of carnage again, but against Aizen�s nearly limitless reiatsu and his reality-bending Zanpakuto� well, he had a few doubts as to whether or not The First Espada would be able to take on Aizen for long.

She must have felt his concern, because he didn�t have to wait long for an explanation.

�Those who came before me spoke of the fact that when Aizen went to collect the strongest Vasto Lordes he could find, after overthrowing and subjugating Barragan, he discovered Starrk and Lilinette amid a mountain of bones and corpses. Evidently, all that Aizen needed to do was to hand them uniforms and offer them a bath. They were not only already of a Vasto Lorde level, but natural Arrancar that had removed their masks. They had achieved this status on their own.�

That was certainly news to him. He could see why she would contemplate aligning herself and her girls with Starrk and Lilinette as a kind of insurance policy. Oddly enough, it didn�t seem like the Third�s usual policy to put that kind of trust in any of the male Espada that outranked her. Then again, of the three, Starrk and Lilinette seemed the most mentally balanced, despite their affliction with terminal cases of narcolepsy and perpetual grouchiness, respectively.

�Then that leaves only one topic left. Why try for a child now, with the Net fallen and the Swarm coming at us every other day? You said a pregnancy would weaken you. Is that wise?�

Harribel turned towards him, now reclining on her back, her lower half immersed in the bath and her back arched against the edge of the step up from the one she sat on. The overhead, Kido-powered lanterns had come on, once the sunset-spawned light leaking in through the windows had faded to an inky-dark purple, studded with small, bright pinpoints of light. The golden glow from above made her eyes seem greener than they were in normal daylight, more possessive and certainly hungrier.

She reached up and fingered a few of the longer strands of his hair. It hung just below his shoulders, with one hard-to-manage strand perpetually hanging over his left eye. For some reason, every time he considered having a barber whack it back into some semblance of order, circumstances required that he put the haircut on hold. If this kept up, he�d soon resemble Ukitake-san, minus the eye patch and the bag of sweets.

�The last skirmish with the Swarm served to remind me that we�ve no guarantees in this conflict.�

�Carpe Diem it is then,� he thought. Either of them could be one less-than-successful skirmish with the Swarm away from oblivion, but that was simply part of being a soldier. She was correct in that grabbing for what they could have now was a safer bet than not.

Toshiro still couldn�t picture himself as a father. It didn�t help that most of the so-called �role-models� he�d had as far as child rearing went were questionable at best. As much as he�d loved his grandmother, she was long gone and the Matsumoto he remembered from her days as a Fukutaichou wouldn�t bring home any �parent-of-the-year� awards. Ukitake, as much as he liked and respected the man, fell into the �good-time uncle� category, with his penchant for handing out sweets without regard for hyperactivity, proper nutrition or cavities. Reigning in his own sweet tooth in favour of being a good example to a child held little appeal, though he knew it was a parental requirement. The only other people that came to mind made him question his sanity. It was a sad day when Abarai Renji and Grimmjow would stand out to Toshiro as prime examples of nurturing caregivers.

�If you have doubts, know that I think you do well with Hana-chan.�

Of course, she�d pick up on the internal argument going on in his mind. Toshiro shook his head, trying to get a handle on his warring emotions, as he tottered between abject fear and reluctant acceptance of something he probably had very little control over.

�I�m her superior officer and she understands how to obey orders. Hana�s hardly a child and I didn�t see much of her when she was smaller. I�m not sure that working well together qualifies me for fatherhood.�

Toshiro had had little enough contact with the rest of the children, other than running into Ajuga on occasion when she would visit her mother or Jushiro�s Division. He�d spent the majority of his life in the Gotei 13, which wasn�t the most child-friendly environment, unless one counted Yachiru and he�d seen her take down grown men four times her size and age and then dance on their unconscious bodies while munching on peppermints� probably supplied by Ukitake. He made a mental note to warn Harribel about the other Taichou�s candy stash. Would a half-Arrancar child, born of two relatively powerful parents and raised with three short-fused Arrancar females as surrogate aunties be of similar temperament?

Of course, he and Harribel had a much better sense of mutual decorum, an appreciation for rationality and at least some idea of what passed for acceptable behaviour in public. Maybe they�d be lucky and any offspring would inherit at least a few of their better qualities. Toshiro also knew that Harribel didn�t exactly need his permission to conceive. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her Claim to avoid execution as much as she needed him to contribute his genetic material to her cause. What he didn�t really understand was why she wanted this in the first place.

�I think you sell yourself short in that regard,� he heard her say and her words jogged him out of his woolgathering long enough to look down at her. Her outward appearance was as calm and self-possessed as ever and he suddenly wondered if he�d hallucinated how flustered she�d become while Claiming him earlier.

�If this is going to happen,� he said, �I guess I�d like to know why.�

She leaned back, bending one of her knees and bringing at least part of one long, dripping leg out of the water, resting her foot on the next step down. The position didn�t look comfortable, but Harribel gave him a faint smile.

�As I told you, the most recent battle reminded me that existence is often short and waiting for a perfect future might mean losing out completely. As for why�� she replied and then trailed off, biting her lip, as she appeared to try to put together an explanation that would make sense to him. After a minute or two of silence, she pressed his hand down on the spot where it rested on her lower abdomen.

�What makes me a Hollow cannot be seen, little dragon. It is a void and a reminder of the sacrifice I made for the life I carried. Such were the times in which I died. To lose one�s life this way was not an uncommon occurrence. The memories I retain are little more than shadows, fleeting glimpses of events long gone, but the yearning to hold, to protect, to be filled never went away. No amount of power I consumed before this could fill the abyss within me, nor could it ease the ache.�

She looked away, to gaze at the far wall, her sea-glass eyes slightly unfocused. She wasn�t usually this loquacious but this wasn�t something she�d ever shared with him before.

�The strong devour the weak in Hueco Mundo, or Claim them. Female Hollows are rare for a reason. We are often easy prey for the males, much as females are in the Living World, unless we are sufficiently strong, cunning, or lucky. I�d gathered those I could find to me, thinking it would be easier to protect ourselves if we did so as a group, rather than gaining power through eating and sacrificing others. I thought that method might ease the emptiness inside as well and for a while, it worked.�

The young man next to her could only sit, staring down at her in shock as she revealed her motives. Toshiro felt a strange mixture of sympathy, awfulness and, at least for him, an uncharacteristic amount of outrage as he processed this new information. Of course, there were millions of ways that humans met their physical ends, some better and some worse than others, but what she described seemed particularly cruel. He supposed that dying in the middle of the act of birthing a new life could generate enough anguish and unfulfilled desire to create a Vasto Lorde. The level of despair alone, minus a properly performed konso, would also account for the memories. At that moment, much of what appeared to drive Tia Harribel made a terrible, ironic sort of sense and it didn�t get any better as she continued.

�Then Aizen came. He promised a better future for my girls than the mindless cycle of eat-or-be-eaten. It was much better than what Barragan wanted, which was to parcel us out to his followers as prizes,� she said, spitting out the Second�s name as if it was something nasty she�d made the mistake of tasting. �If I followed him, he said, he would give me the power I needed to protect them. I wouldn�t have to devour others, wouldn�t have to sacrifice those I wanted to protect or myself, wouldn�t have to bow down to Barragan and accept that old man�s boot on my neck. He wanted to know if I�d like to see my ideals in action, if I would like my deepest desires fulfilled, that empty space made whole again.�

Toshiro was now officially appalled. To dangle something like that in front of her, as a bloody incentive was nothing short of horrendous manipulation. Then again, this was Aizen the puppet-master. He�d seen what the bastard had done to Hinamori. He shouldn�t be surprised at anything the bastard had done or offered to secure another powerful soldier.

She fell silent, and he could tell she was mentally somewhere else, perhaps revisiting the moment when she�d accepted that deal. Any agreement with the usurper was bound to come with some kind of caveat.

�Did taking his offer help with that void inside of you?�

It was an audacious statement to make, he realized, just after it left his mouth. Toshiro expected her to get angry, or remind him of his place at a question that sounded a little too much like a challenge to her about a past decision, but either she didn�t take it as such, or she�d felt how shocked he was about Aizen�s promises. Instead, she continued to stare off into space, her fingers lightly tracing over his.

�Not in the way I expected. We ended up going to war and both sides made sacrifices for Aizen�s ascendancy. However�.�

Harribel sighed, and then looked up at him through golden lashes, her expression thoughtful.

��his victory let me find someone who could. I believe your power can overcome this internal paradox within me, Toshiro. You�re strong enough and you�re capable enough. You also possess all of the qualities I deem necessary and desirable for the father of my child.�

He could only stare down at her as he tried to put what she�d just told him into context and attempted to keep his lower jaw where it was, rather than letting it fall into the bathwater.

What in the Hell was he supposed to say to that?

Maybe Hyorinmaru had been right about the whole �undertow� business.

Now that he knew her underlying reasons, including the aspect of motherhood tragically thwarted, Toshiro let what she said sink in. Regarding her through wet, white bangs, he knew that he shouldn�t let what she�d told him influence him, but that was difficult to do while she lay next to him and closed her eyes, waiting for some kind of signal from him.

She had made up her mind about what she�d wanted long before he�d ever existed, if the time frame she�d hinted at was right. There were plenty of very practical reasons to go along with this. Harribel hadn�t had to order him into her bed since the day she�d told her girls they�d lost their �playtime� privileges with him and she�d kept her word that whatever they did between them, including her Claims, would remain private. Toshiro didn�t want to have to give her a reason to rescind that ban. He also didn�t want to jeopardize the freedoms he did have, which were extensive compared with many of his fellow captives. While his powers weren�t yet strong enough to allow him to escape her encircling Claim at will, it might only be a matter of time before it would be up to him as to whether or not he allowed her to continue to cast one.

The tie between them that a child would create would be much harder to break than a Claim.

Of course, if he had wanted the ones that already existed, the ones attributable to the Claim and the other, invisible ones that had sprung up on their own to shatter, he could have let the beetle�s acid hit its intended target.

Toshiro could sit and debate with his better judgment until the Realms collapsed and find enough arguments for and against bringing another life into the dangerous mess Aizen had created of Heaven. While his willingness might be a minor consideration, at the very least she�d given him her reasons and even explained why she wanted to do so with him as opposed to the strongest candidate she could find. That mollified his ego a bit, which made reaching his ultimate decision easier.

Pulling his hand away from her belly, he decided to take a risk and instead, gingerly placed it on the step next to her far shoulder. His knee followed suit a few steps down, nudging the bones of her skirt as they floated in the bath. Her eyes opened to find him kneeling, naked, on all fours above her, water droplets from his sodden hair falling to land on her torso and running in rivulets over her skin to the tiled steps. His shadowed eyes took in her cautious expression, before the corner of his mouth quirked up.

�So�about this baby� when should we start?�

Her arms reached up in response and pulled him down against her, into a kiss that stole the breath from his lungs and the sense from his head. The next few minutes involved a tangle of limbs and tongues, despite the fatigue caused by her Claim. Toshiro swore that he was going to end up crawling to his room once this was over, or hers, whichever was closer. She parted her thighs and her hands found him at the same time that his teeth latched on to her throat. There was no way he could break the skin there, or mark it, but when his fingers stole beneath her skirt and worked their way into her channel, still slippery with his first release and her renewed excitement, she arched up and he felt the quickening of her pulse under his mouth.

�Shit� Tia�� he groaned as she smoothed her palm over the head of his re-awakened cock and ran her other hand down one hip, spreading her long, tanned legs wider in a blatant invitation.

Then, of all things, her hand stopped what it was doing, leaving him on edge.

Dazed, he pulled back as she turned her head and her eyes towards the door. The hand around his shaft poised maddeningly in mid-stroke.

It wasn�t until he heard it, a faint, feminine voice, that he realized what was wrong.

�Mistress Harribel, Hitsugaya-Taichou?�

Someone else was in the house and it wasn�t one of her Arrancar fraccion.

Toshiro took a very deep breath, then another. He fumbled about for his wits and then tried to expand his awareness enough to try to pick up on the visitor�s reiatsu. Beneath him, he could tell Harribel was doing the same thing.

It turned out to be the last person he expected at this time of night. Hana was here though and she was incredibly agitated. Why was she back in the Seireitei? She ought to be leagues away on patrol until early morning.

Then he considered some of the potential reasons she might suddenly abandon her duties and he gritted his teeth together, knowing that whatever it was probably couldn�t wait.

They both looked at one another and Harribel reluctantly let go of him. In turn, he slid his fingers from her, choking back a curse as he put a muzzle on his disappointment. The blonde gave him a quick, conciliatory kiss, with just enough tongue to promise that they�d resume this at some point in the near future. He let her up and they climbed from the bath. Harribel wordlessly handed him an �after-bath� yukata and pulled her own from its peg along the wall, not bothering to release Tiburon and go back to her sealed state.

When they�d made themselves presentable, Toshiro fell in behind the Espada as she sighed and made her way to where Hana�s reiatsu signature fluctuated in the foyer. Then he laid eyes on the girl and all of Toshiro�s hackles went up at the sight of her. She�d wrapped her arms around her body and she�d hunched her shoulders, as if she was overtly cold, despite the winter-weight uniform she wore. A pair of haunted, bloodshot eyes stared out at them from her too-pale face.

Oh, this was not good, he thought. He�d never seen his relaxed, competent 7th Seat in such a state. While she didn�t look physically injured, he�d seen enough of others going through the aftermath of some kind of trauma to know she was bordering on hysteria.

�Hana-chan?� he heard Harribel say quietly, reaching out one hand towards her newest fraccion.

Hana turned and bowed, sniffling all the while and in a thick voice said, �Taichou, I�m here to officially report that I cannot complete my assigned patrol route tonight. I� there was��

She didn�t complete the sentence. A moment later, Hana burst into a series of gut-wrenching, shuddering sobs and buried her face in her hands.

25 pages long, but I just couldn�t find a good breaking point to split it into two chapters. I was honestly surprised at the vehemence Hiyori received, granted she did pull a mean one on Hana.

Kain: aw, who needs a soul? I seem to get along just fine without one. Lisa is long since dead, so it would be impossible for her to tell Hana. And yes, I may do a double update today, if I have the time, as the next chapter comes right off of this one.

There is a common theme in my reviews I feel I must address here. Doing so inside the story would require me to write additional, un-necessary scenes as it has already been mentioned, especially in Part 1.

In the beginning rape and a fair amount of violence was common. People often play rough with new toys and no one considered the possibility any cross-breeding was possible. Hollows tend to live fast and hard for any moment could be your last. It took a bit of time for them to realize that this was permanent. Their pets were going no where and they started to settle a bit as they fell into a routine. Bear in mind that Hana was either not even born yet or was crawling and Karin was still a 13 year old virgin way back then. By the time anyone started to �leave the nest� things had settled down considerably.

After Karin got pregnant the idea worked it�s way into the populations head that offspring were possible if their woman were treated well. It�s been mentioned several times that the Arrancar treat their pets better now, increasingly so after each pregnancy. Other than a few specific cases (Aizen, Barragan and Yammy who have no fear of upsetting anyone higher ranked than them directly or through the �slave chain�), most of the Arrancar do not treat their pets roughly anymore.

Several relationships at this point in time follow more along the lines of the one shared between Nnoitra and Rangiku, only less male egotistical. A good number have evolved to be in line with Soi Fon and Ggio with real affection. You simply can�t live with someone for fifteen years without growing use to them.
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2