For You

Italics � Hitsugaya�s POV Bold � Ichigo�s POV Bold italics � Both parties� POV - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If I smile, it�s because I�m smiling for you. The white-haired captain furiously scribbled his signature on yet another piece of paperwork. It had been the sixth time in a row that Matsumoto had turned up for work late and ended up going to the bar before coming back and going back again. And it was only Monday, dammit. He snatched the paper from his desk and placed it on the pile of finished paperwork before snatching another from the undone pile and began dipping the brush in the ink on the ink slab before making another signature. A crash could be heard outside, and in came the carrot-top he knew (and loved). �Kurosaki. What do you want?� Hitsugaya asked, not realizing that the ink had made a hole in the paper. Ichigo didn�t say anything, not even a Toushirou greeting, and instantly leaned it to give the small taichou a quick peck on the lips. �What are you�?� ��Rangiku-san told me that you�re feeling a bit moody lately. She kept on running back from Soul Society to my house and begging me to keep you company for a while,� Ichigo explained, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Ah, so that�s why Matsumoto was acting strangely earlier. Hitsugaya gave a light-hearted scoff. �Really, Kurosaki�You shouldn�t bother so much.� With that, a contented smile found its way on the young captain�s features. �Who said I was feeling moody again?� If I cry, it�s because I�m crying for you. Hitsugaya stared at the tombstone standing upright in front of him. His arms folded and a grim frown etched on his face, he turned around and left Soul Society�s cemetery. Hyourinmaru was nudging him incessantly at the back of his mind to let loose a bit of the dragon�s reiatsu, just for a few seconds. Hitsugaya firmly sealed whatever reiatsu he was accidentally leaking out, but not quick enough for cold rain had already started to fall. �I swear I�m going to kill Aizen for this,� he thought to himself icily. He tilted his head backwards a little, and caught sight of the name Hinamori Momo carved beautifully on the tombstone. He was about to walk away when he heard someone�s weeping voice. Hitsugaya moved closer towards the lone tree, almost dead, right next to Hinamori�s grave and took a peek from behind it. Kurosaki Ichigo was sitting there like a stone, his arms bringing his legs nearer to his chest, and the weeping voice coming from his lips. �You�re strong, Toushirou. You�re really strong,� Hitsugaya heard Ichigo whisper. The strawberry apparently knew he was there, watching him. �Don�t worry about me, Toushirou. You can go back to your office. I�ll just sit here and help ya with coping.� Hitsugaya didn�t budge, and silently made the rain fall more lightly. If I come, it�s because I�m coming for you.

�Please, taichou, please let me come with you.� His answer was definite and obvious. �No, Matsumoto. You stay here and take care of the division.� Without letting his lieutenant protest any further, Hitsugaya opened the senkaimon and jumped in, finding himself at the place where he desired to be at: the Urahara Shoten. Jinta and Ururu answered his knocking on the door and Hitsugaya rushed in to look for the perverted salesman. �Urahara, you�re keeping the senkaimon connected to Hueco Mundo on Yamamoto-soutaichou's order, am I correct?� Urahara nodded with a smile, knowing exactly what Hitsugaya wanted. �Open it for me straight away. There�s something I need to settle with Kurosaki.� �About going to Hueco Mundo without even telling you?� Urahara teased, getting the senkaimon ready. �Kurosaki-kun already foresaw that, Hitsugaya-taichou.� Hitsugaya arched an eyebrow. �He did?� �Yes. I�m quite fanning himself to the confused ever come to me

surprised that he already knows you that well,� Urahara chuckled, with his fan. He pulled something out from a box and tossed over white-haired captain. �He asked me to give this to you should you requesting for help in opening that senkaimon.�

��And now there�s something else I need to settle with that idiot,� Hitsugaya muttered before putting on the ice blue mantle as he jumped into the senkaimon leading to Hueco Mundo. If I leave, it�s because I�m leaving for you. It had been the first time the carrot head met the icy prodigy everyone held in high regards of, and to be frank, it was really fun. His name Toushirou was catchy and easy to remember, not to mention fun to use when he wanted to play along with the child-like captain. But something weird about the shattered Soukyoku happened, and he found himself fighting with Hitsugaya over the shards, to each for their own reason for getting the shards. When things cleared up, and the senkaimon open and ready for Ichigo and his friends to return to the material world with, Ichigo was reluctant to leave the white-haired captain behind, but hey, he was a shinigami and he belonged here, in Soul Society, right? �Don�t worry, Toushirou, I�ll come visit ya whenever I get the chance!� �Pfft,� he remembered the easy-to-annoy captain snorting. �Who said anything about worrying? And it�s Hitsugaya-taichou to you, Kurosaki.� Ichigo just laughed it off. If I heal, it�s because I�m healing for you. Hitsugaya fought against his drooping eyelids as he struggled to keep himself awake throughout the fight. With the limit placed on him, it seemed near impossible for him to even land a good hit on the invading Arrancar, let alone trying to kill him. Calling to get the limit off took helluva lot of time, but it came nonetheless and he won the fight effortlessly, even. But it proved to be too much for him, even as a captain, and as his wings shattered, he felt like as if his insides had coiled themselves around each other, resulting in a sudden burst of blood. Matsumoto caught him as he fell, and he was thankful for that, but he was plain refusing to close his eyes and admit that he had been so hurt from the attack.

It wasn�t until Ichigo came with an unconscious Rukia did he accept treatment from Orihime. �Ichigo-kun, please convince taichou to accept the healing from Orihime-chan. You know how it is with his pride and all, but since both of you are such stubborn oxen, perhaps you know how to handle my taichou,� Matsumoto pleaded with both of her hands cupped together in a begging way. Ichigo let the stubborn oxen comment slide and looked at the tattered, bleeding figure of Hitsugaya who had his arms crossed and his eyes half-open. �Oi, Toushirou, don�t be so stubborn and let Inoue heal you, alright?� �No way, Kurosaki�� Hitsugaya�s voice was so tired and listless. �I�m fine�I can handle myself well enough�� �Come on, Toushirou�� Ichigo nudged. �Do it for me, at least?� Hitsugaya looked up and locked eyes with his secret crush for a while before finally giving in. �Fine�� As his eyes finally closed, Hitsugaya succumbed to the sleeping spell as Orihime summoned up Souten Isshun and proceeded to attend to Hitsugaya�s bloody wounds with Ichigo leaning against the door, watching. If I bleed, it�s because I�m bleeding for you. Ichigo muttered a curse as he stood up from the bloodstained ground, panting and holding onto Zangetsu for support before falling back down again. After fighting so many gawddamned hollows and winning all the fights with the Espada that attacked him earlier, this was all that bore fruit? Letting himself get beaten and cut up so badly that his blood had already stained every single spot of the grounds at which the bastard was standing? He was never this weak, never. He got to Aizen first, and he will kill Aizen for everything he had done, especially the near-fatal blow he gave to someone he knew as Hitsugaya Toushirou. He will kill Aizen; he will. But how can he when he could barely even muster enough strength to don his hollow mask and get this over and done with? �I know that look in your eyes. It�s look of determination,� Aizen coldly stated with a sadistic grin. �You�re just like Hitsugaya-kun in every single way, Kurosaki-kun. Strong threats with such powerful words�� He drew Kyouka Suigetsu and aimed it perfectly above Ichigo�s back. ��but turned out to be weak anyway.� Ichigo spat out some more blood as the stab of the sharp zanpakutou pierced right through his skin before he felt his limbs getting numbed with sudden coldness as he lied there in a pool of his own blood. At least Hitsugaya was safe. If I protect, it�s because I�m protecting for you. �Toushirou, stay here and keep an eye on Rukia and Inoue for me, alright?� Ichigo kindly and softly requested the young white-haired taichou before turning to face the door. �I�ll take care of the teme.� �No.� Hitsugaya�s answer was firm and solid. �He made Hinamori bleed more than anyone else has, and I will make him pay dearly for that.� �All the more you gotta stay here and protect Rukia and Inoue on my behalf, Toushirou,� Ichigo calmly argued, though he had to admit, he was losing quite a

bit of his patience. �There ain�t no telling what�s gonna happen to you if you go in there. I�ll be able to distract the bastard while you can bring the girls back to Soul Society and come back and help me out.� Hitsugaya was speechless. For once. And for once, the dumb blockhead Kurosaki Ichigo�was right. ��Alright, Kurosaki. I�ll protect them for you. But just this once, and only this once.� If I kill, it�s because I�m killing for you. Rampage. Madness. Utterly chaotic. Insanity. Those words would be perfect to describe the situation right now. Hitsugaya had no idea when or how it happened, but he remembered it was late at night, and he was on the night shift for patrolling Karakura Town for any suspicious beings. Alas, he managed to find an Arrancar snooping around the Kurosaki household before everything turned all black. The next thing he knew, he was slightly awake, and lying on the ground being surrounded by a pool of his own blood. A figure with a shihakushou and a black nodachi for a bankai�Kurosaki? But his actions didn�t seem to match the strawberry�s usual fighting style. It was insane and completely thrown about, like as if the orange-haired substitute wasn�t paying attention, but Hitsugaya�s assaulter got hit badly all the same. Hitsugaya strained to look up and saw not one, but two Arrancars lying on the ground in front of him, dead. But�Ichigo wouldn�t kill anyone�he just wouldn�t. He didn�t have the heart to kill, as much as he had the heart to fight, but not to kill! This was ridiculous! �Ah! Yer awake, Toushirou?� That voice�It was like Ichigo�s but�somehow, it wasn�t his� Black eyes with golden irises soon bore into his own slightly frightened teal eyes. �What�s da matter with ya? Too happy �bout what I did fer ya that ya gone all speechless?� Hitsugaya clenched his fist and stretched his hand out to reach for Hyourinmaru, but the gone-mad Ichigo picked it up before he could even reach it. �Ah ah ah, ain�t gonna let ya even think �bout attackin� me. Is this how ya normally thank someone?� �Who�who are you�?� Hitsugaya spat coldly, gathering up reiatsu. �Me? Well, I�m da one who just saved yer ass, Toushirou, and I�m da one Ichigo here tried to suppress for months!� The Ichigo-hollow threw his head back and cackled as a mask began appearing on the side of his head. �Poor Ichigo�All he wanted ta do was ta save and protect ya, but when he saw ya lying on the ground and not respondin� ta him and all, I guess that�s when I stepped in when he was nearly on the brink of goin� insane over seein� yer bloody body.� �Well, tell Kurosaki that he doesn�t need to protect me�� Hitsugaya muttered as he clotted his blood and wounds with his ice manifested from his reiatsu before he shunpo-ed behind Ichigo and tugged Hyourinmaru out from his grasp. ��because I can protect myself just fine.� With that, he froze the mask on Ichigo�s face, and punched it before it shattered into pieces as it dissolved away. Hitsugaya saw the hint of chocolate brown eyes returning before blacking out once more. If I live, it�s because I�m living for you.

Hinamori stabbed�Aizen revealing his betrayal�Going bankai�Getting stabbed�Blood�Blood�Lots of blood� Hitsugaya Toushirou found no point in living anymore. Hinamori died because he had failed in protecting her, and he failed all because of his blind trust that he placed in the spectacled freak of a captain. He became a shinigami, no, he became a captain so that he could have the power to protect Hinamori, but she was dead, long gone, by the hands of her own captain. What was the point in living anymore when his reason and resolve for living in the first place was gone? The pained roar of Hyourinmaru kept him awake when he didn�t want to be. The dragon was telling him something; he was showing him a sign. But what? �There is someone you should be living for, Toushirou,� Hyourinmaru whispered as the dragon if ice soared freely in the frosted heavens of his inner world. �Someone you don�t know that well, but will love in the future. Someone you have not seen, but will hear of many times in the future. Someone who is out there right now, and wondering who is this special Hitsugaya-taichou who got severely wounded by Aizen�s hand.� At that instant, the sudden action of Hitsugaya sitting up in his bed, wide awake and definitely not comatose, scared the daylights out of Unohana. Hitsugaya knew who he should carry on living for. ��Kurosaki.� If I die, it�s because I�m dying for you. �Kurosaki!� Hitsugaya shouted out concernedly, losing his cool at the sight of his love slumping to the ground, blood gushing out from every single blood vessel of his body continuously. Hitsugaya shook the limp body, restraining his tears from spilling out. �Kurosaki�Kurosaki! You wake up this instant, Kurosaki!� �My, my, there goes the boy I crushed,� Szayel, in his released form, muttered sadistically, reminding Hitsugaya too much of Mayuri and Aizen put together. �If he hadn�t insisted on protecting you so much, he wouldn�t need to have every single of his organ crushed right now, would he?� Hitsugaya clenched his fists till his fingers dug into his skin and he bit his lower lip till it bled. He hated to admit it, but he was powerless right now. There was nothing that could be done; Szayel had gotten hold of his Hyourinmaru, and his only hope had all of his organs crushed, every single one of them. He felt someone hold onto his fisted hands and he opened his fearful eyes. It was Ichigo�s. �K-Kurosaki�?� �Toushirou�� Ichigo whispered, his face ghostly pale. �I�m sorry�I can�t protect you�anymore�� �No, just�just shut up, Kurosaki,� Hitsugaya ordered, his fingers beginning to draw blood. �I don�t care if you can�t protect anyone anymore. Just�just have the will to live, Kurosaki, and you�ll most definitely be back to your perky, impulsive self again.� Ichigo smiled weakly at Hitsugaya�s comment. �Be strong�as always�Toushirou�There�s no telling�what�ll happen to my�human body once I�die outside of it�� �You won�t die, Kurosaki Ichigo. You won�t.�

�I know I am�Toushirou�Ain�t got no more�organs for me to live�No way I can�survive that�� �Tick, tick, tick. The clock is ticking, my new subject,� Szayel cut in, picking up a small organ-like figurine from the Hitsugaya voodoo doll he held in his hands which had the Spanish word for small intestine on it. He crushed it into pieces and Hitsugaya immediately spat out blood which splattered all over Ichigo�s already bloodstained shihakushou. �Toushirou�Get out of here�before he kills you�� Now it was the large intestine. �No�Kurosaki, I�� Now there goes the stomach. �I won�t�I won�t leave you alone�Kurosaki�� �This is getting boring. If you won�t come with me to the lab where Aizen-sama is waiting, I�ll just have to abide by his second order, which is to kill you if you still refuse.� Szayel picked up the lungs and held it in his hands before he clenched his fists, crushing it. �I�m sorry�Kurosaki�� Ichigo closed his eyes, the smile on his face. �Love ya too, Toushirou�� Szayel dealt the finishing blow and slowly but truly crumpled the figurine of the heart in his fist till it turned to nothing but dust. And when Soul Society�s reinforcements came, they were too late. They say that when you die or experience a near-death experience, you would see the person you care for most right before your eyes. Well, Kurosaki/Toushirou� I saw you. Before them lay the two well-known figures of Hitsugaya Toushirou and Kurosaki Ichigo, their life force and reiatsu totally gone from their bodies, but warm and contented smiles clearly expressed on their deathly pale faces as they died in each other�s arms. If I smile, it�s because I�m smiling for you. If I cry, it�s because I�m crying for you. If I come, it�s because I�m coming for you. If I leave, it�s because I�m leaving for you. If I heal, it�s because I�m healing for you. If I bleed, it�s because I�m bleeding for you. If I protect, it�s because I�m protecting for you. If I kill, it�s because I�m killing for you. If I live, it�s because I�m living for you.

And if I die, it�s because I�m dying for you. Everything you do is for me, and everything I do is for you. Sometimes I wonder to myself why I sacrifice so much for you, and other times I wonder to myself why you sacrifice so much for me. But I know the answer, and it is right before my eyes. You sacrifice so much for me� �because it is for me. And I sacrifice so much for you� �because it is for you. And you�alone.