ICE HEART
xvii. does
❝I CAN'T JUST STAND BY WHILE MY FRIENDS ARE IN DANGER!❞

Ayame gazed towards the sky as the orange hued rays of light began to slowly surrender to the darkness. She smiled lightly, remembering all the times that she had watched the sunset with her mother. The blonde-haired female felt something light tap her on her shoulder and felt a familiar spiritual pressure behind her.

"Toshiro." The petite female smiled lightly as she turned to face the short, white-haired Captain.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he sat down beside her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She replied while turning her gaze towards the sky once more.

"TOSHIRO!" An unfamiliar voice cried out.

Ayame snapped her head towards the source of the voice and saw a black-haired child running towards them. The blonde raised an eyebrow in confusion while Toshiro payed no attention to the child.

"You again, huh?" Toshiro mumbled.

"Yeah. Hey, why didn't you come to soccer practice?" She asked, making Ayame more confused.

"Look, I never said I was going to help you. Besides, I really don't have the time." Toshiro told her, continuing to look at his soul pager.

"C'mon, you're in grade school. What are you so busy doing that you don't have the time?" The girl asked, before turning to face Ayame, "Oh, I get it now! You just want to spend time with your girlfriend!"

"We're not dating." Toshiro announced, a hint of a blush on his face, before he sighed, "Just go away."

"Toshiro!" Ayame cried out as she gazed towards the younger girl, "I'm sorry about that. My name is Ayame."

"O-Oh, don't worry, it's fine. Why do you keep coming here to the same spot. Do you live nearby or something?" She asked.

"Not really." Toshiro answered bluntly as he gazed towards the sky. "I like to come here because this is the best view of the sky. It brings back a lot of... memories."

"Memories? How old are you both anyway?" She questioned.

"That doesn't concern you." Toshiro replied as he began to walk away until suddenly their Soul Pagers went off.

The two glanced at each other and nodded before running away but before they could go much further, Ayame felt a tight grip on her arm preventing her from running. The blonde snapped her head back to see the younger girl had grabbed both hers and Toshiro's arms.

"No, wait! Don't go over there!" She cried out.

"Huh?"

"I can sense some sort of spiritual pressure from this girl. Can she sense Hollows?" Ayame thought to herself as her blue orbs narrowed.

"It is possible." Kōri no Joō replied.

"How should I put this? I'm sensing something bad in that direction." The woman told them as their soul pagers began to beep again.

Toshiro grabbed his soul pager and looked at it and the signal had disappeared.

"Somebody defeated the Hollow." Ayame thought, taking a small sigh of relief.

"What is it, Toshiro, Ayame, is something wrong?" The girl asked as Toshiro snapped his Soul Pager shut.

"No. No it's nothing at all." Toshiro replied.

"But, you are gonna' be there tomorrow, right?" Karin asked.

"Who knows?" Toshiro sighed as they both walked away.

-timeskip-

Toshiro and Ayame began to approach the field and then they were surrounded by little children.

"You're late." The girl grumbled.

"How can I be late if I never even said I was coming?" Toshiro smirked lightly as the two of them leaned against the goal post.

"Who are you?" A little kid asked, glancing at the blonde.

"Ayame Kireina."

"Are you good at soccer?" He questioned.

"Possibly, why do you ask?" Ayame responded with an eyebrow raised.

"Because we need he-" He began, but was cut off by another group of people.

"Who are the new kids?"

"They're with us! We're making a substitution." The girl informed them.

"Awww, they're getting some people to help them out now!"

"Hah!"

"Ready guys! We're gonna' go out there and kick some butt!" The girl exclaimed as Ayame's and Toshiro's eyes widened.

"Alright!" The team replied.

"Hey, wait! Hold on! I didn't come here to play soccer with you guys!" Toshiro yelled, but Ayame's eyes widened when she spotted a bruise on the girl's knee.

"Your knee, are you hurt...?" Ayame asked while trailing off as she didn't know her name.

"Karin, and it's just a little scratch, I'm fine." Karin replied.

"And who does that remind me of?" Toshiro grumbled in Ayame's ear as she chuckled lightly.

"What's wrong?" Karin asked after a moment of silence.

"Alright, I guess we'll play." Toshiro sighed.

"I suppose you guys want to win, right?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah!" Karin exclaimed as two kids walked off and Toshiro and Ayame walked on the field.

"Do you even know how to play this game?" Kōri no Joō asked.

"How hard can it be? From what I can see, you just kick a ball into a net." Ayame replied.

"Let's go!"

"Changing players!"

Marin's team kicked off and Karin managed to get the ball, but unfortunately the other team easily tackled her and managed to get the ball but within a few seconds, Toshiro came and took the ball off them easily.

"What?!" The player screamed as they fell to the ground.

Multiple players began to charge towards Toshiro but he easily dodged them, making Ayame chuckle lightly at how easy he made them fall to the ground. Toshiro kicked the ball towards the blonde as she began to run with the ball, dodging every single player that approached her. She kicked the ball into the goal with ease.

"They scored!" Karin exclaimed.

The next few points were scored easily and quickly. Toshiro scored the second point, Ayame scored the third and Toshiro scored the fourth.

"No way!" The other team cried.

"Yes, we tied it!" Karin exclaimed.

"ALRIGHT!" The team cheered happily.

Toshiro started with the ball and dodged many people's attempts to grab the ball. They neared the goal along with Karin and Ayame instantly knew what Toshiro was thinking.

"Put it in!" Karin smiled happily, but Toshiro passed the ball to her.

"No, you do it!" Toshiro told her.

"This is your team, Karin. You can do it!" Ayame assured her.

"Here it goes!" Karin cried out as she kicked the ball into the goal and the whistle was blown.

"We lost!" The other team moaned.

"WE WON!" Their team cheered happily as Karin approached the two of them.

"It's all thanks to you, Toshiro, Ayame." She smiled.

"C'mon, you're the one who scored the winning goal. Anyway, there's something we need to ask you." Toshiro replied.

"W-W-What is it?" Karin asked.

"The other day, you seemed to-." Toshiro began

Ayame's blue orbs widened as she faced the sky and noticed that a large crack has appeared and a hollow was coming through. The blonde gazed towards Toshiro and saw that he was checking his Soul Pager.

"No, it's back again." Ayame heard Karin whisper.

"This is a huge Hollow." Ayame thought. "No wait, is it a Menos?"

A large purple and green hollow came through the crack. Toshiro shoved Karin out of the way while the blonde did a back flip away from the Hollow's fist.

"Run guys!" Karin yelled.

"And you too, go!" Toshiro told her as the Hollow began to roar.

"Toshiro, you can see that thing?" Karin asked as Ayame ran up next to them.

"We'll explain it later! Just run away, now!" The blonde yelled.

"I can't! I can't just stand by while my friends are in danger!" Karin yelled as she stood up and began to run towards her ball.

"Hey!" Toshiro shouted as Karin kicked the ball into the Hollow's face, but it just pounced off and had no impact.

"He didn't even feel it!" Karin whimpered.

Ayame noticed that the Hollow was raising its fist and was about to slam it down on Karin. The blonde quickly grabbed her soul candy and transformed out of her body and flash stepped in front of her and blocked the attack along with Toshiro as they shared a glance and nodded at each other.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyōrinmaru."

"Freeze the lands and surround your opponents in ice, Kōri No Joō."

The sky began to turn into a darker shade of grey and a turquoise spiritual pressure surrounded the two of them. Toshiro used the chain on the end of his zanpakutō to wrap around the Hollow's arm and turn it to ice, then he proceeded to pull it off.

"Too bad. With two Captains in the World of the Living, you Hollows don't stand a chance." Toshiro told the Hollow as it began to roar and form a cero. "AYAME, DO IT NOW!"

The blonde jumped up into the air and easily broke the hollow mask with a simple kick. Ice began to surround the hollow and soon enough it crumbled into nothingness and the sky turned clear as the two walked towards Karin.

"Are you alright?" Toshiro asked as he extended his hand towards her.

"Y-Yeah." Karin spoke as she grabbed Toshiro's hand, then turned to face her friends. "How is everyone?"

They all murmured in response and began to get up from the floor.

"They're alright." Ayame told her.

"Thank goodness." Karin sighed thankfully. "Toshiro, Ayame, that kimono you're wearing."

"You do seem to have a strong spiritual energy, but I never thought that you'd be able to see us in this form." Ayame told her.

The blonde's blue orbs widened as Karin grabbed hold of both hers and Toshiro's shoulders.

"Please tell me you know where my brother has been all this time! I know that you are both Soul Reapers!" Karin yelled.

"How do you know about Soul Reapers?" Toshiro questioned.

"Because my brother's a Soul Reaper too. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki." Karin informed them.

"Kurosaki?!" Toshiro exclaimed.

"So then that must mean that you're Ichigo's younger sister. That makes sense." Ayame spoke up. "Sorry, but unfortunately we don't know where Ichigo is."

"I see." Karin sighed as she let go of them.

"However, we do know that he is somewhere working on his strength. I suppose he's just like you, no matter what he sticks it out until the very end, because that's the sort of person he is." Toshiro informed Karin.

"Hey, don't worry. After all, he's your brother, right?" Ayame smiled lightly as Karin wiped her eyes.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Captains~!" An annoying, familiar voice called out. "YOU'RE SAFE!"

The blonde snapped her head towards the familiar, busty Lieutenant as she ran towards them happily.

"So she's a Soul Reaper too?" Karin asked.

"Yeah. She's my subordinate." Toshiro sighed in annoyance.

"So you have subordinates?" Karin smirked as she placed her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, sort of." Toshiro grumbled. "Rangiku, you're late."

"Yeah, I'm sorry sir. Captain, can this girl see us?" Rangiku asked, pointing at Karin.

"She's Ichigo Kurosaki's sister." Ayame informed her.

"His sister?" Rangiku repeated.

"Yeah. Hi there!" Karin smiled happily.

"Well hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, Captain Hitsugaya's Lieutenant." Rangiku introduced herself.

"Wow, you really are a Captain." Karin smirked. "What about you, Ayame?"

"I'm the Captain of Squad Five." Ayame told her.

"You sure are cool, even though you're both just little grade schoolers." Karin spoke as she patted Toshiro's head.

Toshiro gained an irk mark and it took all of Ayame's and Rangiku's strength to cover our giggles.

"Who said I was in grade school?" Toshiro grumbled.

"Huh? You mean you're not?" Karin replied as Rangiku and Ayame burst out laughing hysterically.

"That's hilarious!" Rangiku cried.

"Look, I'm only going to tell you this one last time! I AM NOT A LITTLE KID!"

-timeskip-

"We just need three more." Ikkaku stated as Ayame glared at him blankly, confused about why he was in protective gear and why Yumichika, Rangiku and her were dragged into the roof of Karakura High.

"That's it? Three? Three friends? We're short two people! We need two people still, you got that?!" Keigo yelled at him as he began to count fingers. "ONE, TWO."

"SHUT UP!" Ikkaku screamed as he hit Keigo with a Kendo sword."Anyway, I'm going to ask them for their help."

"And what exactly would we be doing?" The blonde questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"I have an idea of what it is he wants." Yumichika smirked knowingly.

"Good, that makes explaining easy. I want you to participate in the match that we-" He began.

"No." They all responded in unison with a smirk on their faces.

"COME ON!" Ikkaku cried.

"There's absolutely no way I would do it." Rangiku told him.

"I'm not getting involved with your schemes, Madarame." Ayame informed him.

"That's right. There's no way." Yumichika grinned.

"But I'm begging you. This match is really important!" Ikkaku whined.

"It's a shame that I can't help you out." Rangiku replied innocently.

"I guess we're the only ones you can ask for help." Yumichika sighed.

"So participate then, will ya'!" Ikkaku grumbled.

"No because the protective gear smells." Yumichika and Rangiku replied while everyone held their noses.

"IT WHAT~!" Ikkaku screeched as they all rushed away from him.

"The protective gear smells!" They repeated as they rushed down the stairs, as far away as possible from Ikkaku and his stinky protective gear.

-timeskip-

"So, give me one good reason why I should participate." Toshiro grumbled.

"Sorry, Captain Hitsugaya. Please accept this." Ikkaku spoke as he pushed sweets in front of him.

"Don't try to bribe me with sweets." Toshiro growled lightly.

"So, you say that but you're already wearing the protective gear." Rangiku chimed in.

"That's because you made a big fuss and told me to put it on without any explanations!" Toshiro yelled.

"I'm very sorry, Captain." Ikkau apologised while pushing the sweets towards him again as he gritted his teeth. "This is a token of my regret."

"You bastard." Toshiro snarled as another student came rushing in.

"I'm glad my younger brother in grade school had protective gear that fits you perfectly!"

"Grade school..." Toshiro growled lightly as his facial expression darkened. "Madarame... You're gonna' pay!"

"I wanna' win this match and I wanna' win it bad." Ikkaku told him.

"I warned you that it was a bad idea to get yourself involved in the lives of humans." Toshiro hissed.

"Sorry, you were right." Ikkaku replied.

"Take this as a warning, Madarame." Ayame told him with a murderous glare.

"Yeah, you should be sorry. We're busy here with training and it's a real inconvenience for us!" Renji told Ikkaku as he stepped into the classroom, already wearing the protective gear.

"Inconvenience? Then tell me why you're here." Toshiro ordered.

"Well, uhm, actually Kisuke kept pestering us to come today AND THEN WHAT DO I FIND BUT THIS?!" Renji yelled.

"It's a shame I'm taking your time up." Ikkaku replied innocently.

"Did you give Kisuke a box of sweets just so he'd do this?" Ayame asked.

"You should be ashamed!" Renji yelled.

"Bribes are always necessary in this type of situation. So, anyway where did Chad go?" Ikkaku questioned.

"I'm afraid that he won't be here. His policy is never to accept a bribe cau-" Renji began, but was cut off by Ikkaku grabbing his collar.

"WHAT WAS THAT? THOSE SWEETS COST ME AN ARM AND A LEG!"

"AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU PAID!"

"Guys we're still a member short. It's almost time for the match." A student reminded Ikkaku.

Ikkaku bowed down in front of Ayame and Rangiku and the blonde glared at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Please help us out, I beg you!" He pleaded.

"I told you that I'm not getting involved in your schemes." The petite woman grumbled.

"I won't do it! I don't want my hair to be smelly!" Rangiku repeated.

"Alright, fine. We can manage, but someone has to volunteer." Ikkaku spoke as he pointed at Keigo. "YOU WILL!"

Keigo quickly grabbed Ikkaku's arm as tears streamed down his cheeks from fear.

"I've never even held a bamboo sword before!" Keigo whined.

"It's simple! All you have to do is run away. Really simple. Only three of the five of us have to win." Ikkaku explained.

A few minutes later, the match was ready to begin.

"The match between Karakura High School and Kotei Academy will now begin! Because we are having a friendly match today, the person who gets the first point will win the round!"

Toshiro was the first person to compete and he quickly knelt down on the floor and waited for the person to begin the match.

"BEGIN!"

Toshiro stood up and easily took down his opponent, earning a point for their team. The crowd cheered wildly as Toshiro returned to his seat.

"Nice one!" Yumichika exclaimed.

"And you kept saying that you didn't want to." Rangiku chuckled.

"Just shut your mouth! Toshiro yelled.

"Congratulations, Toshiro. You did well, but that's expected from a Captain." Ayame smiled lightly.

The blonde faced towards the match and saw Keigo already attacking somebody. It looks like he had blocked a hit, but what he did next made the small woman face palm at his stupidity.

"I can run away really fast, watch!" Keigo told his opponent as he began to run around like a crab. "Heh! Just look! Catch me if you can!"

"What in the world is my stupid brother doing?" Keigo's sister yelled out in frustration.

When Ayame looked back towards the match, the blonde saw Keigo get hit. The next person was Renji and as soon as he knelt down, the female could sense a Menos nearby.

"Begin!"

Renji quickly ended his round and everyone began to transform into their soul form.

"Idiots! Can't you tell that people can see you?" Ayame thought to herself as she ran out of the building, still in my gegai.

The small woman quickly grabbed her soul candy and exited her body before flash stepping towards the location of the Menos. When she had arrived, it looked like Renji was already in his Bankai.

"ZABIMARU!"

"GROWL, HAINEKO!"

"EXTEND, HOZUKIMARU!"

Ikkaku jumped up and shattered the skull of the Menos before it fell to the ground.

"Even though Aizen is using the Hogyoku to create Arrancars, small fries are all that have been appearing! I've gotta get back fast!" Ikkaku exclaimed, remembering that his match was next.

Ayame chuckled lightly at his response then turned to face Toshiro when she had noticed everybody else had gone.

The female felt something develop in my stomach, and her cheeks beginning to burn.

"What is this feeling?" I thought.