a short one just to get you guys interested and show you i'm serious. there's gonna be a lot more than my original chapter count cause i might do smaller updates, this is a fraction of what chapter 1 would be if i stuck to that plan. we'll see though. it's a little heavy on description but i want to intro the world, but we'll get to fun stuff in time. enjoy!

~~~

The midmorning calm was shattered yet again by the clash of two swords against each other, one wielder using his to bear down on the other. After a few moments of straining, the smaller fighter managed to break the deadlock, and in an inhuman feat of acrobatics backflipped twice in midair to avoid a follow-up slash from the taller man that would have easily split him in two. The combatant landed on his feet, mumbling hurriedly under his breath before speaking the final words allowed in a cold, serious voice.

“Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan!” A pale purple rod of energy formed in his hand and he hurled it at the tall, thin man wielding a katana opposing him. In the blink of an eye, the rod split into uncountable duplicates, all the same thickness as the original, as if by magic. The inescapable field of glowing poles bore down on the man, leaving him nowhere to run and with no cover to protect himself. They drew closer, just a hairsbreadth from his skin, his hair, his eyes…

He vanished.

Only to reappear behind the smaller, childlike fighter, sword drawn back horizontal at shoulder level for a punishing strike, his left hand open palm out in front of him.

“Bakudo #4: Hainawa!” A thick, jagged looking yellow rope made of pure reiatsu, spirit energy, jutted worth from his palm, and from point blank range there was no dodging. His small opponent was snared, arms drawn tight to his sides as his weapon fell to the stone floor of the training ground. The fight was over.

“A very good match, Hitsugaya-taicho,” the taller man breathed, his sickly form hunched a little and leaving his long white hair clinging to his face. “I must say you pressed me a little more than I tho..!” Ukitake Juushiro, captain of the 13th Squad of Seireitei’s Gotei 13 protection squad, suddenly collapsed, coughing up blood violently even as his bakudo spell faded and released his opponent. Hitsugaya Toshiro, the captain of Squad 10, immediately turned to the other man, his face showing just a hint of concern through his universally cold mask.

“Ukitake-taicho, are you-”

“TAAAICHOOO!!!” A brown haired man with a pointed goatee nearly bowled the small captain over to reach the fallen man’s side, his eyes watery with emotion. “Taicho you need to be taken to ACK!”

He was immediately replaced by a short girl with boyish brown hair, who had grabbed the other officer by the collar and nearly choked him in a surprising display of strength.

“Shut your mouth Kotsubaki, I’m taking him to 4th, not you!” A palm neatly planted itself in her face as Kotsubaki stiff armed her back.

“Like hell you are, I’m the more devoted officer, I’ll be taking Taicho!”

“Stuff it down your ass, I’M TAKING HIM!”

“ME!”

“ME!”

“ME!”

“Enough!”

Hitsugaya’s single word command was enough to get the pair of third seat officers, who were now literally millimeters apart and glaring daggers into each other’s eyes, to back down and be silent. The silence that followed was enough for Ukitake to kindly insert his own opinion.

“If it’s all the same to everyone, I think I’ll just go lie down… I’ve just over exerted myself is all, I wasn’t counting on fighting such a tough opponent today!” Hitsugaya had a very hard time not bristling; he knew the man was just kind by nature and he respected him deeply, but it stung his pride to feel so condescended to. He nodded stiffly in reply.

“I’ll be going then, thank you for the practice spar Ukitake-taicho, and I hope you feel better soon.” He turned and began to talk out of the 13th’s training grounds and into their main courtyard, which in turn led out into the maze-like streets of Seireitei.

“Thank you Shiro-kun, I’ll be sure to send some candy over later!” Now Hitsugaya really did flinch, and the air around him for several feet dropped by a good ten degrees. His glare did well to silence any unseated personnel in the courtyard who might have overheard, and then he was out of sight.

This was business as usual in Soul Society, the world after death and one of the four planes of existence for souls in this life. Most of the time, the living were able to navigate their way through life and death just fine, but there came some who lost their way, or grew too attached to their earthly life. This was a problem and it was the shinigami whose jobs it was to fix it. Shinigami guided the lost souls of the living to the afterlife, known as Soul Society, and resided in the great white city of Seireitei which sat in its center. The military-like job required such serious training for a reason though, and this reason certainly wasn’t a few lost souls.

Terrible things happen when a soul is lost for too long. Their heart fills with pain, and anger, and fear and despair. They slowly lose themselves to these emotions, and one day their chain of fate, the very links binding them to the living world they should have left behind, erodes completely and they lose their hearts. The result is a hollow, a heartless beast of pure instinct which seeks to fill the emptiness inside by consuming human souls. It’s also the job of the Shinigami to stop this. Their kido and weapons, known as Soul Slayers, or Zanpakuto, purify these monsters of the evils they have committed and allow the broken souls inside to move on to Soul Society. It doesn’t, however, absolve souls of great evil committed during life; those souls are sent to the underworld, or hell. A great many hollows exist, hundreds of thousands, even millions, but the vast majority live in Hueco Mundo, an in-between realm of white deserts and endless night. The main focus of the Gotei 13 is to protect the living and Soul Society itself however, and for thousands of years they have done just that.

“He means well, you know.”

Hitsugaya didn’t even turn to look at the entity that joined him, materializing out of nowhere and walking in silent steps beside him. His hands and feet were made of pure ice, like fresh blown glass. An icy blue X crossed his stoic face and his hair was wild and a vibrant teal, falling around his shoulders. He stood tall and proud, dressed in flowing garments reminiscent of a samurai, with a chain around his waist. This was Hyorinmaru, the spirit of Hitsugaya’s zanpakuto.

“I know that, but it’s not an excuse.”

Due to a very strange situation involving a powerful zanpakuto bound (perhaps misguidedly) to a dangerously insane and sealed master, pretty much every zanpakuto in Soul Society was currently walking around free of their blades at will. The 12th Division was working overtime to research and correct this phenomenon, but for the time being it was everyone’s reality. Hyorinmaru was as icy and cold as his master was, far more quiet, and generally did not make himself seen. But now that he was here and no one was in sight, he did something that would have made anyone who knew the small captain he was partnered to faint.

He smirked.

“So you’re telling me you don’t eat the lollipops he leaves you? Oh my, I seem to remember the last basket disappeared in about a day, everyone was so curious as to where-”

“SHUT UP!”

The dragon man’s grin widened as he whistled innocently, looking anywhere but the irate little captain next to him.

“Did it get cold just now, or is it just me? Cold candy breaks your teeth, little man…”

“Don’t you have something better to do?” the young man whispered dangerously. With a loud laugh Hyorinmaru vanished, leaving Hitsugaya with a mild headache. Little to anyone’s knowledge (thank the King, wherever he was) Hyorinmaru was a sardonic, smug bastard most of the time. He just did a damn good job of hiding it. Hitsugaya was long since used to it and he took it in good humor; in fact he’d often reply in kind within the safe confines of his own mind, but he had a reputation that he most unfortunately had to uphold at all cost. For all he knew his very position depended on it.

He arrived back at 10th Squad headquarters, nodding to the guards who snapped a quick salute to him. He did his best to run a tight ship, but he heard the muttering behind him and ground his teeth together as he walked inside, heading for his office. Everyone of lower rank respected him to his face but rumors flew around him just out of reach, leaving him to hear the tail end and making him powerless to do much of anything about it.

He was too young for the job.

He was really just a kid.

He can’t even hold his bankai for more than a handful of minutes.

He’s not fit for the position.

If they weren’t short 3 captains already he’d be asked to step down.

Hitsugaya shook off the negative thoughts and slid open the door to his office. He’d prove them all wrong, he always had from the moment he’d entered Academy till when he graduated a year later from the seven year program, from achieving captaincy decades ago till now. He’d show them all he was fit for command.

The train of thought not only derailed, but tipped on its side, ignited, exploded, burnt to dust and choked a dozen small puppies when he saw the state of his office. Papers were everywhere, many covered in paint as his second in command stood in the middle of the room facing an easel, a half cat woman mirroring her a few feet away. Puddles of paint stained the floor, and a few of his wall decorations had fallen down and cracked their frames.

“Taichoooooo!” she greeted sweetly, completely oblivious to the temperature falling and the steam practically shooting from Hitsugaya’s ears. “We’re doing fingerpaints, look! I made one of us, we’re out at-”

“MATSUMOTOOOOOO!!!!”

Down the hall an unseated officer looked up from doing supplies requisition, shrugging and looking back down. “Hmm, Captain’s back…”

Just another day in Squad 10.

great start to a new version 2.0 I'm already impressed. I missed this story.

Zammtastic

A great start for a remake. I might take a page from your book and rewrite some of my older stories too, as I'm having trouble picking up on them too. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this story.

thanks to the 4 of you who replied to my first little update, gave me smiles each time =D this takes us about 2/3 of the way through what would have been chapter one. i've got the next update ready to be edited already, but i'm not gonna post till i have the following one done, this way i can make sure i'm not falling behind. should be out by the weekend at the latest, now enjoy!

Mistress - you should totally rewrite your stories too, let's start a trend! ^_^

-----

“Matsumoto, can you please explain to why you’ve destroyed my office this time?” Hitsugaya managed, taking a deep breath before he had a mild stroke. The spirit next to her, Haineko, gave a cheery wave with a brush as if nothing were wrong (which splattered more paint drops everywhere), returning to her own work. The zanpakuto had reddish hair and pink cat fur covering parts of her body, and was very curvy to mirror her wielder. Rangiku Matsumoto was every man’s fantasy – tall, strawberry blond, and voluptuous. A pink scarf draped over her shoulders and her shihakusho was open a little (lot) farther than strictly necessary. Hitsugaya seemed completely immune to her charms, however.

“We’re paaaainting,” she explained, smiling brightly and dragging the word out as if the trashed office wasn’t enough to show just what they’d been up to. “See? I drew us shopping in the living world, I needed some new blouses and I thought ‘Hey! Maybe if I paint it it’ll come true!’ so I got the paints and of course we had to decide who got the best paints so we fought over and them and I won, so my picture’s got more color! Haineko stole the only brush when I wasn’t looking though. Can we go?”

“I drew fish, see?” Haineko proudly displayed her painting, a huge plate of dead fish with a chibi version of her pouncing on it. Hitsugaya was near certain he’d been murdered and had been dragged to hell. This was not happening. He sucked in a deep breath and prepared to let it all out and correct this little problem.

“Hitsugaya-taicho!”

A runner was on his knees at the door, awaiting a reply, looking down in proper fashion as he waited to be addressed.

“Yes?” the small captain ground out. He didn’t trust himself to speak full sentences yet.

“There’s uhh aaahh!” All protocol was lost as the man looked up and saw the office, a small shout of astonishment escaping him. The temperature plummeted and he quickly pressed on, “uhh, a captain’s meeting, immediately, sir!” He nodded and the man vanished with a whisper of shunpo, and Hitsugaya turned back to the pair.

“Clean. This. Up.” Matsumoto seemed entirely immune to the treatment and smiled wide, nodding.

“Of course taicho! It could be worse after all, you know! We could have painted your room too!”

“I told you to stay out of there!” he bit out quickly in response, the slightest edge of panic working its way into his voice, so bare that only those who knew him very well could have hoped to catch it. Despite their contrasting personalities, Matsumoto was one of those people, and she caught it easily, as she did every time this topic came up.

“Of course, Taicho,” she sighed petulantly, looking at the ceiling, “for the thousandth time, I don’t go in the room.” He nodded, ignoring her attitude as he was best at.

“I’ll be back shortly, I hope.” With another shunpo he was gone, speeding quickly for the 1st Division meeting room. Matsumoto watched him go, a hint of worry in her eyes. He wasn’t the only one hoping there were no new developments.

~~~~~

The meeting was just beginning as Hitsugaya arrived, and he hurried to his place in the left line to join the other captains, sparing a brief glance around to the others. Soifon looked as closed off as ever, the assassin’s face devoid of emotion as she stood motionless. Hitsugaya had never interacted much with her, and in fact he could never recall even being to the 2nd Division’s head office at any point in his captaincy. She always did her job however, and he had no conflict with her.

Kuchiki Byakuya was much the same, but somehow colder. Every hair was perfectly in place and every crease and fold of his uniform perfect and elegant, as if he were a living, breathing statue. He stood with his eyes closed, as if he were removed from the meeting and here only out of necessity. He was a great soldier but the 10th Squad captain was always a bit put off by him and his coldness, ironically.

Unohana Retsu of the 4th gave him a warm smile as he entered, as she did everyone. She was a very kind healer and yet so terribly scary in a strange way, when she wanted to be. There was no better healer in all of Soul Society than her, and she was generally liked by everyone except the 11th, who hated being under her care for any more than about 30 seconds.

Speaking of which, the shark-like Zaraki Kenpachi was grinning like a hungry animal, most likely because these meetings often meant the possibility of a new enemy to fight. The man could almost be mistaken for an animal, were it not for the little pink haired girl who was currently asleep on his shoulder, a bubble growing and shrinking from her nose with each breath. Hitsugaya didn’t understand how those two got along, but it suggested there was more to the beast of a man than met the eye. Not that he intended to probe those depths, most who did ended up in the 12th as a fine paste to be used either as research material, brick mortar, or possibly a tasty snack for their criminally insane captain, who was currently grinning around the room like a berserk Egyptian clown. Kurotsuchi Mayuri would never settle with the small captain, in many ways he was more dangerous than Zaraki, not that he’d say that out loud. He liked his head where it sat, thank you.

Ukitake was conspicuously absent, but his longtime friend Kyoraku Shunsui was present, his flowery pink kimono draped over his shoulders and his hat pulled low. Hitsugaya hoped the snores he heard were just in his imagination…

The banging of a cane on the floor drew their attention to the front of the room; Hitsugaya’s eye caught Komamura Sajin’s dog ear twitch at the noise. He never understood just how or why the giant captain looked as he did; literally a huge walking wolf. He was fiercely loyal to the ancient man at the head of the room however and always did his job, even though this had sadly resulted in a vast number of devastating defeats.

“The meeting has begun,” the gravelly voice of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni boomed out. The man looked as old as time itself, but beneath the façade was the most dangerous and powerful shinigami alive. His narrowed eyes glared out across the room, taking in all the other leaders of their world.

“The Winter War is over, and Aizen Sousuke has been forced to retreat for now,” he continued. “For the moment we may turn our attention to other concerns.”

“Ahhh Yama-jii, what about the victory party?” Kyoraku said with a lazy smile, tilting his head up just enough for his face to be seen. ‘Huh, so he wasn’t asleep after all’, Hitsugaya thought.

“There will be no victory party because there was no victory, Kyoraku-taicho,” Yamamoto replied seriously, turning to bring his heavy gaze upon the other man. “Many of our forces were critically injured, some permanently so, as in Hinamori Momo.” Hitsugaya felt a cold weight settle in his stomach and swallowed thickly. “The Fifth Division is currently without any leadership, as inefficient as their lieutenant was.” A small defiant glare; that was an unfair statement, even if deep down he knew there was a ring of truth to it. “And Aizen Sousuke and Ichimaru Gin both eluded capture and have returned to Hueco Mundo and out of the grasp of justice. Would you call that a victory?” Kyoraku raised his hands in defeat, but the smile never left his face. Sometimes Hitsugaya thought the flamboyant man actually liked trying to piss the Soutaicho off.

“Aizen will be an issue for another day. We must address the threat to Soul Society on our doorstep. Kurotsuchi-taicho, report on your findings regarding the sword fiends.” The nightmare researcher’s grin spread wider as he stepped forward.

“As I previously explained, these sword fiends are a phenomenon never before encountered,” he said excitedly, but with a hungry and very off-putting twist to his tone. “Once a zanpakuto is released from the control of its master and has slain them, it begins to lose its mind until it becomes nothing more than a crazed killing machine. Additionally, they have access to all their powers, making them all bankai-level crazed killing machines… We don’t know where they are hiding or how to track them, and the process, by all current knowledge, is irreversible.”

Yamamoto nodded as if he had expected this or already been briefed. “There has been an attack in Rukongai, an unknown number of these beasts are attacking.” His eyes swept the room, and Hitsugaya began praying they wouldn’t land on him. He had a feeling deep down that this would lead to no good for whoever got chosen – it would mean follow up missions, long nights, and stacks of paperwork. For two. All to be done by him.

“Hitsugaya-taicho.”

‘Damn… Why do I always get the worst assignments..?’ Next to him Kyoraku’s grin widened, as if he heard those thoughts.

“Take 3 lieutenants and 15 men, secure the area and eliminate all hostiles. Go.” Yamamoto banged his staff on the ground, ending the meeting before Hitsugaya could even nod an affirmative. As the captains all filed out he turned to look and saw all the second seats gathered as well as the third seat from Squad 11; his was absent, making his teeth grind together a little. It had better be because she was cleaning.

“Madarame, Abarai, Iba, on me,” he intoned, waiting to get acknowledgement from the trio before flash stepping back to the tenth, the others following behind. He chose those three because there were still captains above them to head their divisions; he would never live it down if another squad lost their upper leadership because of a botched mission he was leading. Upon arrival he quickly secured the 15 unranked members required by his orders and briefed the team en-route. Speed was essential, they had to get there before the sword fiends moved on. Hopefully they would arrive in time.

Cool, sounds way better then the original.

Great rewrite so far, even though we kinda know what's coming, it's still great to read!

I've always wondered, though, what genres of toys Shinigami found interesting. I doubt ghost and ghouls and spiritual things would be as interesting to those who routinely meet them.

I can see Hitsugaya being a Gundam fan. Big robots? None of those in Soul Society.

i got zero writing done this weekend, been real down. but i promised something would go up, so i put up what i had a day late figuring at least it's better than nothing, ne? more action and plot advancement, but like i said before, i'm planning on making this a real story too instead of just fluff or fap. enjoys.

-----

A screaming woman being held up by her hair stared up into the glowing red eyes of a green skinned monster, its huge fangs protruding from its wide ogre-like mouth. The other arm was a sword from the elbow down, which it now brought up to land the killing blow. The woman’s breath caught in her throat and she froze, helpless to do anything but watch…

As the arm was suddenly severed at the elbow, the sword flopping uselessly to the ground with a clang and a spurt of blood. The sword fiend roared in shock and anger, looking up to see a group on shinigami a few dozen yards away; a blond one stood near the front with his hand out, fingers still sizzling from the kido spell which had dealt the strike.

“Unranked, spread out and funnel them in to us. Fukutaichos (and Madarame, he added silently, since the man had the job of a second seat most days anyway), cut them down,” Hitsugaya slowly drew Hyorinmaru, the metal ringing dully as he drew it forward. Ikkaku’s grin widened, scabbard in one hand and sword in the other in his unique style, while Iba pulled his tanto out from within his top and Kira just nodded seriously.

“Hai!” The affirmative rang out in unison as the other soldiers quickly moved to form a perimeter. The sword fiends were not stupid though, and a tall lithe one with needles covering its arms and legs swung out, turning one of the men into a pincushion. He went down with a loud scream as the men closest to him scattered, creating a wide break in the line which the other lower seats were too stunned to fill.

“Dammit! Kira, close the line!” Hitsugaya immediately abandoned the plan, cursing at himself for spreading the rank and file too thin even as he charged forward and planted his blade firmly in the chest of the leading fiend, twisting it sideways and tearing it out right through the crazed beast’s lung. Ahead of him Ikkaku was spinning his tri-section staff, laughing maniacally as three sword fiends tried to pierce his defenses at once.

“Come OOOON, damn you!! I came here for a good FIGHT!” he shouted out, laughing as Hozukimaru bifurcated one of the monsters. Nearby Iba was desperately trying to held the perimeter but was stuck grappling with a nasty birdlike fiend with hooksword arms.

“Ikkaku, don’t forget why we’re here! Don’t get caught up and let one escape,” he growled out, the pick on his released blade burying itself in the sword fiend’s eye.

“Shut it, I know that!”

“Bakudo #37: Tsuriboshi!” A huge star shaped net rocketed from Kira’s position, strands attaching to trees and houses and making a wall of condensed reiatsu to their right. It was thin and not meant to hold for long against attacks, but it would have to be enough. He solemnly drew Wabisuke and charged into the fray, effortlessly cutting down the first sword fiend he came across and reducing it back to broken metal shards.

With less ground to protect it was far easier for the unseated officers to form a solid perimeter and hold it, but despite their best efforts several went down wounded from cuts and slashes and nasty effects by the sword fiends. The four fighters in the middle were more than a match for them however, and within just a few short minutes the rest were easily dispatched, raining down as broken shards in the abandoned street.

Hitsugaya stood still and took stock of the surrounding area while most everyone else stood panting around him, then sheathed Hyorinmaru and got a good look at the injured; the man who was filled full of needles was beginning to turn green, and three others were in serious danger without immediate attention.

“Take them to fourth, now!” he commanded, rushing to the nearest one and lifting the man up on his shoulders himself, moving quickly for the medical barracks. None of his men would by dying on his watch.

~~~~~

Just a short distance from the little village in Rukongai where the battle took place, the foothills of the tall and sharp cliffs surrounding the region began. Between a few of these was a small valley filled with crimson spider lilies, and lying amongst them was a thin indigo haired man. He wore a few small sections of plate armor with a red sash around his waist and a bracelet coiled around his left wrist shaped like a snake. His purple eyes were closed tight with pain from the multitude of wounds on his body; wounds inflicted on him by other sword fiends.

He was one of them as well.

At this moment something happened that swung the pendulum of fate off its course, and the waves it would make would stretch far and wide, impacting the lives of many in ways no one could have ever expected. For had the sword fiend remained, it would have been found by a curious zanpakuto a few days later and nursed back to health, only to lose its sanity as shortly after and be put down quietly.

This, however, was no longer to be.

With a loud tear, reality split, and a hollow stepped out into the field, the flowers wilting and dying beneath its feet.

“Well, well… I don’t believe I’ve eaten one of you before, whatever you are,” the Adjuchas whispered dangerously, eyes glowing bright behind his mask. “I hope you taste good…”

In a heartbeat he had the purple eyed sword fiend by the ankle and through the waiting garganta. The man didn’t even have time to scream.

~~~~~

“Hitsugaya-taicho, give your report.”

The gravelly voice of Yamamoto boomed in the small room, and Hitsugaya stepped out of his place in line and nodded, beginning to speak.

“The sword fiends are stronger than we anticipated. We encountered heavy resistance from a force of just under a dozen; 4 men were critically injured and several others had moderate wounds as well. This was with two fukutaichos releasing their zanpakutos,” he stated, his brow furrowing a little as he thought about the battle and attempted to provide a more in depth situation report.

“It is my recommendation that a larger force and more higher-ranked officers be used in the future. Each group of sword fiends we come across will have very different abilities due to the unique nature of every zanpakuto. Casualties will be high unless we are better able to counter this.”

“So what you’re saying, Hitsugaya-taicho,” Kurotsuchi interjected with a sneer, “is that a captain is not enough to fight off a handful of unruly little swords?” He scoffed loudly, “Utter foolishness, unless we’re calling your own personal standards into question..”

“That fight took place in a village street,” the boy captain ground out, turning his ice cold gaze on his colleague, “do you mean to suggest I should destroy the entire surrounding area in order to complete the mission when a more subtle approach would work just as well?”

“Clearly it did not work just as well!” the man crowed back with a laugh, “Just how many were injured, you say? And you had superior numbers, are you certain you’re just not capable of completing a simple assignment?”

“Silence!” Yamamoto’s cane banged loudly on the floor, silencing the 12th Squad captain. “Hitsugaya-taicho, the mission must always take precedence, you know this and you are expected to uphold it, not make excuses with wild speculation, is this understood?”

“Hai, soutaicho,” Hitsugaya bit out quietly, his face turning a bit red.

“How wide of an area did you scan for additional hostiles?” Yamamoto’s eyes opened a bit further than normal, fixing their hard gaze on their smaller subordinate and making him fight to not flinch.

“None, sir… After the conclusion of the battle we pulled back-”

“Your job was to secure the entire area,” Yamamoto cut him off, “not simply dispatch of the most visible targets. Several could have easily slipped past your notice since you did not broaden the search. Previous reports state that the sword fiends break into pieces when destroyed, where are the remains?” The prodigy captain swallowed hard. ‘Oh, no…’

“The… The fragments were not recovered,” he said, his voice a near whisper as he hung his head. “My apologies, the lives of my men were deemed top priority and I took steps to ensure their survival-”

“Unacceptable! Your men know the risks of their stations, Hitsugaya-taicho, as should you. It is the responsibility of every shinigami to die in the line of duty if need be, and to do what is necessary to protect Soul Society. You would do well to remember that,” Yamamoto thundered, his gaze seeming to carry the weight of the sun behind it.

“H-Hai, soutaicho…” Hitsugaya bowed low, his face burning in shame. “In the future I shall-”

Yamamoto then turned to Kurotsuchi, giving him no chance to finish. “Have your researchers go to the battle site and collect samples for study. With any luck we can find a faster and simpler way to put an end to this incursion than direct combat. Everyone return to your duties and remain on high alert. Dismissed!” He banged his cane on the floor, turning his back and beginning to walk away, leaving Hitsugaya standing in the middle of the room, cut off mid sentence. The other captains filed silently by, Kurotsuchi wearing a smug grin at having finally managed to outplay someone for once, leaving him standing in the middle of the room, the last to leave.

Nice little chapter.

I noticed a couple grammatical errors, mostly going back and forth between past and present tense.

So far I'm likeing the remake, keep up the good work bro.

Yep, pretty good my man.

Just started reading this the other day, and I'm definitely liking it so far. Got curious enough about the mentioned first version I went and read that too for the hell of it. I'm a sucker for good fan fiction, and the quality here seems plenty sufficient for me, and the character choice, which I probably never would have thought of, really does seem to make a lot of sense. Anyway, here's to hoping we get to see more on this soon.

Just read this. Its better than the first. Hope we get more eventually.