1000 Years: One Shots (Part 2)

by Yemi Hikari

I decided to break up the collection of theoretical one-shots involving the final arc of Bleach into more then one part.

1. 1: Untitled

Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach.

I decided to break 1000 Years: One Shots into two parts. One of the reasons for doing this is because there was a period of time when I was trying to write stand alone one-shots, but many of them ended up getting put onto the back burner. The second reason comes from the fact this arc has taken a dark turn. The third reason is there has been some nice reveals about Ichigo's mother and Uryu's father. Forth... I'm frustrated with the scanlations for Bleach and have reason not to trust them. More on that later. Rating may or may not go up from T to M again.

Title: Untitled
Genre: Angst, Family, Drama
Characters: Bambietta, Toshiro, Rangiku, Momo, Gremmy
Summary: Toshiro thinks he is a clone of Gremmy...
Notes: The date for this one is 5/19/2014. (Yeah... a couple of months since I started this one.) It is untitled because I hadn't thought of a title for it as I was writing the one-shot. This was also written when Bambietta being alive was still in the air. (If you ask my brother its still up in the air as he doesn't trust the translations due to his knowledge of the zombie genre.)

Every time he closed his lips as he tried telling Rangiku that he was coming to help her, he felt a fuzzy tingling sensation. The thoughts in his head also felt fuzzy as he tried to continue to focus on the task he had set his mind to despite the fact his rieatsu was tanking. As he tried to move towards her, he found that his sense of smell was over taking his other senses. His nostrils were filled with the smell of burnt flesh and a touch of ice. Everything went out of focus and he felt the sensation of falling.

The next sensation he was aware of was that something was surrounding his face. The object wasn't a cloth. Not only did it not actually cover his mouth, the object wasn't soft and he couldn't smell the any chemical used for knocking someone out. His mind didn't stop and think about how if he could smell that kind of smell he wouldn't actually be conscious, nor did it notice that the smell of burnt flesh and a touch of ice was gone. Exterior wise he couldn't feel outside the ring that surrounded his mouth.

Toshiro tried to move his fingers then, but felt no sensation of moving. His eyes blinked pen, and he tried taking a deep breath. Exhaustion caused him to close his eyes quickly, but he forced himself to open them again. Through the haze as he blinked he first saw that he was in a glass cylinder. He then saw the man with the leopard spots on his skin, and another man that looked like he was a part of a biker gang. Both were dressed in the Quincy uniform and he could feel their rieatsu through the glass.

He blinked a couple of times more and behind them he could see a young man who looked to be not much older then him physically. Blinking a couple of times he could see the smug look on the boy's face as he looked at him, an obvious prisoner. "Perhaps though, there is something more to this." His eyes closed and he began to drift away again, but not before he heard the words "his clone" and "not perfect".

He then found himself on a plain of ice, sitting on the ground, his limbs limp. The only thing that could move was his mouth and at first he couldn't speak. His mind drifted in and out of focus as he thought about the third rieatsu that he had felt. "What did they mean by 'his clone' and 'not perfect'?" Hyorinmaru didn't answer and finally he found himself able to tip his head up to look at the dragon who remained silent. "Hyorinmaru?"

"Oi... we haven't been talking for a long time, and now you're silent."

"It is nothing."

"Nothing? I mean... I sensed." Toshiro paused. "What did I sense?" The boy shook his head lightly, looking at the ground. "Do you know what they meant by 'his clone' and 'not perfect'?" Silence came his way and then something clicked. "That boy's rieatsu..." His head snapped up. "Hyorinmaru!" The dragon didn't respond. "Hyorinmaru..." His head then hung down and his hands in the spiritual plane somehow managed to reach up to his mouth as he held back the urge to puke. Eventually he calmed and he lowered his hands to his lap. "Please tell me the truth."

"The truth is something that will hurt you."

"You mean me finding out that I am an imperfect clone of a Quincy! Hyorinmaru!" The boy looked up at the dragon in desperation. Eventually though he had to hang his head. Eventually he began to come to again. He found himself looking around, this time down. He flinched upon seeing that his body was almost naked, but paused upon seeing that the burns were gone. He found himself shaking and wishing to leave that place, his hands darting out to touch the pane, only to find his shoulder area firmly gripped in something.

He then noticed the Quincy who had given him the burns in the first place was standing outside of the tube with the man with the leopard spots. Toshiro's eyes widened, and the corners of his mouth turned down as he felt his heart pound in his throat. Bazz-B looked at the boy with his hands placed into his pockets. "The Shinigami managed to capture Gremmy's brain."

"It doesn't matter." The other man smiled at Toshiro. "I have the original. I can make more clones."

"The original?"

Toshiro suddenly began to struggle on reflex, his legs kicking out at the glass causing the two to notice he was awake. "So my lower parts are free..."

"You're not thinking straight."

Suddenly what had been covering his mouth came off and water rushed into his lungs, causing him to black out. He came to again and noticed it had been placed back. "I'm stuck here. I mean..." The boy stopped short, his hands reaching up to touch the glass at what he saw, barely brushing it due to the shoulder restraints. "Kurosaki!"

Then came the smashing of the glass causing the restraints around his shoulder to release and the mask to come off as well. Water still got into his nose and mouth and he felt himself coughing and spluttering. Something wrapped around his shoulders that was dry and he realized it was the wrap he had seen around Ichigo's shoulders. The physically older boy stooped down and lifted him up so that he was held to Ichigo's side, looking back. His hand's reached up to hold on.

A voice from another room came. "Ichigo... we're still not finding my taicho!"

Toshiro's head perked up. "Matsumoto... she's all right."

The busty woman hurried in then and he found himself roughly taken from Ichigo and scooped into her arms as she held onto him. "Come on Taicho... let's go home. We won the war."

"Home... where is home?" The boy closed his eyes, dozing off. He woke up in what looked to be his quarters. "A dream. A horrible dream." The sound of construction outside caused him to step outside, his eyes going wide. In some places the Soul Society he knew had managed to come back, but other places were replaced by the more modern buildings of the Stern Ritter. Swallowing, he closed his eyes and headed towards the office despite not being dressed in his uniform.

He stopped short upon seeing Rangiku's back as she lectured five female Quincy. Toshiro looked at them carefully, only to flinch when he saw the girl with purple hair and purple eyes. Without realizing it, his mouth opened. "Bambi-chan?"

This caused Rangiku to stop what she was doing and turn her head. The five girls turned to look at them, the girl with the purple eyes having the most shock as she looked at him. The smallest girl spoke. "Ehh... Bambi-chan doesn't like being called Bambi-chan..."

Toshiro found himself swallowing. A girl dressed in a scant manner raised an eyebrow at him. "Actually... how do you know her name at all?"

Rangiku looked at him. "Taicho... you all right?"

The child captain swallowed, before turning his head away from them. "I'm going back to bed Matsumoto. Please don't let there be a giant stack of paperwork for me to take care of when I'm done."

He slipped into his room and crawled under the covers. "Who is she?" His mind drifted, a memory of a younger girl with purple hair and purple eyes flashing before his eyes. "Bambi-chan is nee-nee... or nee-chan." His eyes clamped shut. "No... if I'm a clone... then there is a chance I have false memories. I'm also a clone of a Quincy. I don't belong..."

He found himself drifting in and out of sleep, his dragon trying to lecture him, but not giving specifics about why he shouldn't be upset. Rangiku came and knocked at the door. "Taicho?"

"Go away!"

"Taicho... Bambietta... she'd like to speak with you."

"Because I am a clone of her brother." Toshiro felt his eyes clamping shut tight and his muscles tensing up. "I said go away!"

His body shook. "You need to eat something."

"I don't want too! I want too die!" Hyorinmaru remained silent for a bit, then told him that Rangiku would have something to say about that and that since he could depend on her to take care of it he wouldn't have to push the situation, at least at this point. The sound of feet caused him to sit up suddenly. "I thought I told you to go away Matsu..." He paused... seeing the boy he had seen before. "The original."

"What... cat got your tongue?"

Toshiro swallowed. "What do you want?"

"I don't like you and want you to die."

"Because you're the perfect original and I'm the imperfect clone."

A sudden callous laugh came from the other boy. "Stupid. I'm the perfect clone, while you're the imperfect original. Why do you think they would create a clone of yourself, huh? It was because you were imperfect, weak. Look at how Bazz-B tore you a new one. He could never have done that to me."

Toshiro swallowed, his confusion growing. "I still don't understand."

"My power is to imagine anything I want, while you're reality is limited to... well, that stupid ice dragon."

"Hyorinmaru..."

"Is a voice in your head. You're mental, wishing with your own powers to be a Shinigami so bad that you had to create an imaginary friend."

"That doesn't seem right."

"It isn't right."

"What... is he telling you that isn't right? He would, wouldn't he... if he were an imaginary friend you wouldn't want to go away. Face it. I'm better then you. Taller, the way you want to look."

Toshiro looked at the ground. "If I'm the original, then the reason she wanted to talk to me..."

"You mean Bambietta? Bambietta wanted to tell you to get lost. She already has a better brother then you. She..." The next thing he knew the door was exploding in.

"Leave Gremmy."

The small taicho saw the other boy flinch. "Bambietta..."

"I told you when they first presented you in front of me that I would never, ever call you my brother."

The boy gritted his teeth together. "Why not? He was supposed to be dead, the sample taken from his dead body from the inside of his mouth. He was dead. And if I remember correctly it was you who killed him that winter day. You hate him, don't you."

"Shut up. When you didn't get your way of me calling you my brother, you started telling me I never had one and got everyone else doing the same. All of you also kept telling me that the voice in my head was me being mental. Now I'm the only one with abilities left. You're lucky that scientist captain person thingy decided to give you an actual body, and one like how it used to be. Of course... if he had given you one similar to nii-sama, I would have gone and killed you rather then look at your face."

The male let out an irritated sound and spun out of the room. Bambietta turned her head to look at Toshiro. "What was he talking about when he said you supposedly killed me?"

The girl looked away and began to walk off. "I don't want to talk about it. It's really none of the business of someone who doesn't care to remember."

Toshiro looked at the door. "Matsumoto's going to be mad at this mess."

"You mean ka-chan?"

The small taicho felt himself inwardly flinch. He then clutched the sheets and gritted his teeth. "If you didn't want to tell me that you hate me, then what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I never said I didn't hate you. You've had mother all this time and you couldn't be bothered to come looking for me. That relationship you have with that stupid Hinamori Momo. Why you don't blame her, and you're blaming me. On top of this your powers didn't manifest as those of a Quincy, but a Shinigami. I wanted answers from you... but the fact you don't want to remember. There is honestly no point."

Toshiro looked at the bedding, his hands tightening even more on the sheets. "Where do I belong?" The boy flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "What did I do wrong?"

"You really should get something to eat."

"I don't feel like eating."

"Because you still want to die?"

"No... I just... don't feel like eating."

"Go talk to your fukutaicho."

Letting out a sigh the boy sat up and pulled over a summer kimono over his under garments. He then headed over to the offices, the buildings around him causing him to feel sick to his stomach. When he got there he saw that Rangiku was speaking with two of the females that had been with Bambietta. Both had light hair and were older then him physically. The one who dressed in scant clothing looked up at him. "Oh... it's you."

"Did I do something wrong?"

The other girl blinked a couple of times. "Well... we know that Bambietta-chan is mad at you."

"I..." The boy paused.

The other girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes... well, I'm not sure what you did to get her angry at you."

"Matsumoto... can I talk to you?"

"I'm kind of busy taicho, teaching them how things run in a division. This is Candace-chan, and Meninas-chan."

"They're..." Toshiro paled. "They're staying?"

"We've lost our powers, we might as well earn our keep." The girl dressed in the scant clothing smirked at him, her tone condescending.

"I thought you would be pleased. I know Candace doesn't dress the part, but the older three are really good at paper work taicho. The youngest one is good at cooking." Rangiku's cheerful disposition wouldn't go away. "Oh! You must be getting hungry!"

"Not hungry." The boy looked at the ground, his hands hanging to the side, his mouth twisted up into a frown. "Matsumoto... can we please talk."

"How about we talk over dinner with Bambietta-chan? If she's mad at you, we really need too get that sorted out."

"Matsumoto... I need..." The small taicho paused. "I need to fill out a request for a replacement door for my quarters."

Rangiku blinked a couple of times. "What happened this time?"

"Oh... so when it's her precious daughter she doesn't throw a fit? Why's everything my fault." The boy glanced away. "Nothing. I just need to fill out the report."

"Eh... Bambietta busted down your door because she was pissed at you." The girl dressed in the scant clothing continued to look at him in the condescending manner.

Meninas blinked a couple of times, tilting her head at him. "What did you do to get her to use her ability?" Toshiro's mouth opened and closed at this. "I mean... she seemed quite excited to see you."

"Yeah..." The other girl crossed her arms. "She was wanting to see you until this afternoon. What... did you turn down her confession?" The girl watched as his face twisted up in confusion. "You have no idea what I'm talking about."

"Taicho... was she upset with you because you refused to speak with her?"

"Maybe. I guess so. That's not why she busted down the door to my room." The boy looked away. "He was there."

"He..." The other girl raised an eyebrow. "Whose he?"

"She called him Gremmy."

"Ohh... the one who used to pretend to be her brother." Meninas blinked a couple of times.

"You know... making friends with Gremmy isn't a good idea." Candace waved her hand. "Bambietta really hates him."

"I wasn't trying to make friends with him."

"Wait... this kid used to pretend to be Bambietta-chan's brother."

Toshiro watched as Rangiku's facial features twisted up in horror. He could feel the color draining from his cheeks, before spinning on his heals. "I have to go."

As he moved to leave, he felt the busty female grab his arm. "Taicho... I think you're right about us needing to talk. Why don't we step outside."

"That's not needed." Toshiro tried pulling away, only to feel the back of his summer kimono grabbed.

"No... you're hiding something from me." The woman pulled him out from the room and closed the door. "So... who is this guy?"

"He's a clone of me. Supposedly he's the perfect version of me. Except I think they were only got him to the stage of being a brain. Mayuri did the rest."

"So... he looks like you."

"Matsumoto... please let go."

"Taicho..."

It was then that he stopped pulling. "He's taller then me, looks older then me. He looks like he's put together right despite the fact our coloring is different."

"Don't do this to yourself." Rangiku tugged him around so that he could look at him. "It seems like Bambietta choose you over him despite the fact he's supposed to be this perfect version of you."

"She didn't choose either of us. She hates both of us." The boy looked away again.

"I don't believe that is true."

"What would you know about that." Toshiro suddenly slapped her hand away. "Just... leave me alone. I'm going back to my quarters." To his dismay Rangiku simply let him go. "She's only acting the part."

"Nonsense."

Toshiro collapsed onto the bed, covering his eye. After a bit of time he felt Rangiku enter the room, setting a tray down onto the night stand. She then sat down on the bed. "I informed the Head Captain about Gremmy being a clone. Apparently a certain captain was very aware of him being your clone, but didn't release that information. Kyoraku's placed a restraining order on Gremmy not to leave the twelfth division."

"How's that fair to him."

"Are you still going on about how much better he is then you?"

"See... she's not acting the part. She picked up on the fact he makes you feel uncomfortable."

"Yes..." Toshiro sat up then. "That would be like taking away the freedom of the mod sols."

"Don't worry. It's a temporary house arrest. That man argued that while he is your clone, he isn't you just like Nemu isn't him." Rangiku reached out and ruffled his hair. "I also got a bit of information from your sister, though she still seems to be wanting to keep her distance."

"What would that be?"

"Gremmy is far from being a perfect clone. The ability he had... well, they could only replicate a brain similar to yours. Gremmy doesn't have your intelligence, he couldn't use your powers. So... they had to give him one."

"And how is this supposed to make me better. My sister still hates me."

"Guess what... I'm not leaving until you eat." Toshiro let out a sigh and began to eat his food. After a few minutes Rangiku leaned over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning her cheek against the top of his head. He felt his body relax a bit. She then spoke again. "You do know that I love you, right."

This caused the small taicho's body to tense up and for him to stop eating. "How come you didn't say anything to me?"

The busty female pulled back, stroking his head only to stop after a few strokes. There was a silence that Toshiro didn't like. "I wanted to give you the chance to approach me first. I figured it would be less of a shock. If you didn't figure it out, then I would have had to push your comfort zone."

The small captain sighed. "Are you all right with us acting like a family when we haven't ever acted that way? It seems like things aren't going well so far."

Rangiku's reaction was to embrace him in one of her tight hugs, placing her cheek against his. This caused his cheeks to flush up. "We'll take it day by day." She then pulled back. "Since you've figured out this much, there is something else I need to talk to you about... about your father."

"Ichimaru?" Toshiro shook his head and continued eating.

"That's not it. I kind of figured you would figure that out. No..." The woman took a deep breath. "He's alive." The boy stopped eating, the feeling of wanting to pull away suddenly sweeping over him. "I take it your not happy with that."

"Are you two going to be getting back together."

Rangiku's voice took on a rather indignant tone. "Not for awhile at least. That man has to earn my trust back as well as yours."

The spoon clinked against the bowl and the boy let out a sigh. "You do realize he's likely to give me the answers I want."

Silence, and then came the answer. "Yes... I do realize that. I also don't want you to force yourself to talk to him if you don't want to. I can act as a mediator if you want."

The boy paused. "Matsumoto... I know you're trying to protect me and all... but I am a captain of the Gotei Thirteen."

He felt Rangiku's body go slack, the bed moving in time to this reaction. "Yes... I know that." The woman pause. "Let me make something clear with you though. Despite the fact you are a captain there are things that I didn't approve of … like you staying up late, you not eating... you not taking time to relax and enjoy yourself. I couldn't..."

"Shiro-chan!"

Toshiro felt the color leave his cheeks. Rangiku pulled away from him and sat as if nothing had changed. "... believe that you went so long without food taicho. Why are you being such a party pooper."

The boy flinched. "Why did she have to go and change from acting like a sensible adult to acting like a complete ditz?"

"Perhaps because only a few people know that you are related. She's always been protective of you despite only just remembering who you are to her."

Toshiro swallowed as Momo turned the corner. "You're awake!"

"... and getting a headache Hinamori."

The girl paused, looking at the broken door. "That girl was here..."

"What of it."

"I don't like her."

Toshiro's frown deepen. "Hinamori... have you... interacted with her?"

"She was mean to my taicho."

"I take that for a yes answer."

"And then when we rescued her from the other girls who were picking on her she wouldn't stop pulling my hair and calling me names."

"It's not as if the two of you had met before." The boy let out a sigh, pulling up his leg. He watched as Momo blinked a couple of times. "She's hiding something."

"Are you sure you want to be digging into this young master?"

"Not really."

"It's not possible that they met before." Rangiku frowned, watching Momo with her eyes wide.

"There is no reason for her to hate me like she does!" The girl pouted.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes at Momo. "Hinamori... why didn't you agree with us that you and she haven't met before?"

Momo froze. "Because..."

"You're hiding something. No... why do I have the feeling this isn't the first time you and she met." He watched the girl suddenly pale, her hands shaking slightly. "Hinamori... what are you hiding from me?"

"It's not as if..." The girl looked at the ground. "As you've said, you and I have never met her before."

Toshiro's eyes widened. "Why is she lying to me."

"Because she does know something she doesn't want to tell you."

"Hinamori..." The boy's small hand reached out to grab Rangiku's without realizing he had done this. "You're lying to me."

"I'm not!"

"I know full well that I've met her before." He watched as the girl's jaw dropped. Toshiro decided to try something else. "Do you... do you know why she hates me?"

The girl's face suddenly brightened, causing Rangiku to flinch which in turn caused Toshiro's hand to tighten around hers. "Well... I guess it's because you're my brother."

"I don't understand." The white haired boy heard the busty female to his sigh let out a sigh.

"Momo-chan... are you jealous of Bambietta-chan?"

Toshiro watched as Momo flinched. The girl began to stammer. "Of course not! Why would I be jealous of that... that... crazy person!"

The boy looked down at his food. Again, Rangiku came to the rescue. "Momo-chan... I need to talk to my taicho about some business issues."

"Ahh... all right Rangiku-san." Momo backed away, looking at the ground as she did.

"What business?" Toshiro asked once she was gone.

"None actually. I told you those girls were good." The woman leaned back. "You don't understand what is going on, do you?"

Two bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times and then Toshiro shook his head. "No... I don't. Well... I know that Hinamori knew nee-chan when we were younger, but I'm not understanding how. I honestly don't have any memories before a certain point. To me... it's always been Hinamori and granny and me. But... I remember nee-chan a bit. I remembered when I saw her. It's... the memory is vague."

"Momo-chan's jealous of the fact Bambi-chan's your real sister and Bambi-chan is jealous of the fact you have memories of Momo-chan being your sister growing up, but none of her being your sister."

Toshiro felt his mouth tremble. "But..." He then set his food down. "I need to go talk to her."

"Which one?"

The boy paused. "I honestly couldn't care how Hinamori feels about this. I don't remember her ever being there for me."

"You know... she also may be upset because both you and Bambi-chan aren't accepting her as a sibling."

Toshiro stopped short at the door, turning to look at his mother. "Ichigo's been more of a sibling to me then she has. She... I don't know. She drives me nuts." The boy paused. "I'm not against Momo being a part of my family... it's just... things haven't turned out the way I wanted them too.