Muahaha, I have been abusing my poor readers haven't I. Yes, it's a Bleach fiction...for once...my first Bleach fic, EVER _ Well, nonetheless, I don't own Bleach. I'm working on some Inuyasha fics as well as rewriting some of my PoT and KKM fics!!!! XD Enjoy, if you can.
Who You Are
Matsumoto sighed as she looked at her lover, Gin, tease their son. The little baby squealed unhappily as his pacifier was kept out of his reach. His tiny face wrinkled up, turning a bright red, and he let out a fierce wail. Rangiku walked over and snatched the wanted item from her cruel love and gave it to her son.
"Honestly Gin, stop teasing Toshiro."
The Fox chuckled, "Nah, he's too fun y'know?"
The orange haired woman frowned, "Fine. Tease him and when you can't calm him- don't run to me. I'm taking a nap." The normally cheerful woman, drained of energy from taking care of a new baby, dragged her feet into their bedroom and passed out onto the fluffy futon.
Gin looked at her retreating figure before smiling at his son, "Ne, Shiro-chan, your mother sure is scary when she's tired eh?"
Toshiro stared at his father with big turquoise eyes. He had a tuft of white hair that fell into his eye and he frowned at it before rubbing his eye with a chubby fist. A few gurgles and other baby sounds came from him and Gin's smile widened.
"Yeah I know… me too," He paused and lifted the small babe out of his crib, "Would'ya like t'see outside lil' Shiro?" He opened the sliding door and stepped out into the slightly chilled air. It was March now and still slightly cold from winter. Toshiro snuggled closer to his father's warm chest and drifted to sleep, taking solace in the cold air.
Gin opened his red eyes and peered at the sleeping child. 'His spiritual pressure is so calm in the cold. Interesting,' He grinned broadly and enjoyed the quiet.
--
Yamamoto looked at the tiny child that peered at him, a challenge reflected in those odd eyes.
"Moo-moo, ibns nap poo," Toshiro babbled as his tiny fingers grasped the old man's beard.
Before him, Rangiku and Gin stood- both with impassive faces as they contemplated what to do.
"Sir, we understand how important this mission is, but, we have a son now," Rangiku rose slightly to pull Toshiro's hand away gently.
"I understand, but you two are the best people for this mission. Is there any family that could watch over little Toshiro until then?"
"I don't have any…Gin?"
The smiling fox, who wasn't smiling, thought for a moment, "In West Rukongai, there is an old lady, a close friend of my family. She used to watch me when I was a child."
"What is her name?"
"Kohana Hitsugaya."
"I'll leave you to settle this, but you have a week."
"Thank you," The parents rose and bowed. Gin took hold of Toshiro and they left. As soon as they left the room, Rangiku stopped and wiped her eyes.
"Ran-chan," Gin said as he stood by her.
"It isn't fair! You heard Saitaicho; he said that this mission could take at least five years. That's five years of Toshiro's life we'll miss, AT LEAST. That means that we'll miss even more. He hasn't even spoken his first word and I doubt that he'll do that in a week."
"We'll be back though, so y'see, we'll miss a bit of his life, but not all of't."
"Still," Rangiku pouted as she hugged Toshiro.
--
"Don't you worry, I'll take good care of him," Kohana smiled warmly as she looked at the wiggling bundle of energy.
The fairly new parents looked apprehensive at leaving their child but they knew had no choice.
Two hours, a few dozen hugs, a hundred kisses, and a thousand tears later, Rangiku and Gin were on their way back Yamamoto. Kohana set Toshiro down and went to work preparing some formula for him and soup for her.
"Oh Little Toshiro, you poor little baby," She looked at him with pity. It would be up to her to teach little Toshiro Ichimaru all about his parents.
The next few months were exciting as Kohana received the thrill of having a baby in the house again. Really, the last baby she took care of was Gin and now she was taking care of his child….she had NEVER felt so old before.
Toshiro's first word came out of his mouth four days after his parents left and it was 'ice'. It was an odd first word; normally babies would say 'mama' or 'papa'. But, Toshiro had seen some snow cones and pointed to it, babbling on and on until he started shouting, "ICE! ICE!"
Kohana also found it odd that he was speaking so early.
When Toshiro was nine months old, he began to half-crawl half-walk. Once again, she was surprised at his rate of development.
When Toshiro was a year and two months old, Unohana-taicho visited their humble home.
"Hello there," Kohana smiled cheerfully at the taller woman.
"Hello, are you Kohana Hitsugaya-san?"
"Yes I am, please come in."
Unohana entered and saw that the small house was slightly cluttered with items that pointed to a growing baby inhabiting the place. "I apologize deeply if I am intruding."
"Oh, don't be silly, certainly any colleague of Gin and Rangiku is welcomed here," Kohana chuckled as she peered at the Captain's insignia on Unohana's clothes. "Sit down now little lady, have some tea."
Unohana shared a small smile and sat at the modest table as Kohana brewed some tea. Once it was prepared, the smell drifted through the house and Unohana was startled when she saw a flash of white hair.
Kohana smiled again, "Don't mind Toshiro, he'll just pop in and out of here with his toys."
Unohana smiled and nodded nervously. She was slightly apprehensive over the news she had to tell the old woman, but what must be done must be done.
"I am here concerning Toshiro Ichimaru actually."
"Oh? Is there something wrong?"
"Ichimaru-san and Matsumoto-san, as you know, are on a mission. The mission is to gather information and relay it back to Soul Society. However, they encountered a bit of a problem. The group that they were watching discovered them. They don't know Ichimaru-san and Matsumoto-san's names, but they know that they have a son with the name Ichimaru. Ichimaru isn't a common name and they've already deduced that the child would be young. I am here to inform you that these people may be coming after Toshiro-kun."
Kohana looked taken aback and distraught. "Is there anything I can do to protect Toshiro?"
"Yamamoto-Saitaicho sent me with a solution. The best way to protect Toshiro-kun would be to change his name. Does he know that his surname is Ichimaru?"
"He doesn't really know. All he knows is that he's Toshiro."
Unohana nodded slowly, "Yamamoto-Saitaicho ordered that his surname be changed to his caretaker's. He will now be known as Toshiro Hitsugaya."
"Hit-hit-hit-see-gay-A," A little voice echoed, or tried to at least. Kohana turned to see Toshiro with a slice of watermelon in his little hand. A single seed was under his large right eye and his characteristic tuft of white hair obscured his large left eye. "Hit-see-gay-A Two-shoe-row, that ma name is?"
Unohana blinked, "Yes it is actually."
Toshiro scowled slightly before smiling. "Gran-gran, melon please me give?" He looked down to the now demolished slice and smiled again, charming the old lady.
"Come here," Toshiro ran over to her and she gave him a slice from the plate on the table.
"Thank you Gran-gran," The little boy squealed as he went to go play.
"Also, I have something else that you must do to ensure Toshiro's security."
"What is that?"
"You cannot tell him that Matsumoto-san and Ichimaru-san are his parents. We don't want him to accidentally tell anyone."
"I understand," Kohana's face was strained now. Her wrinkles were more pronounced and her eyes glittered in sadness "I don't want to, but if it is for the best."
--
"Unohana-taicho, did Hitsugaya-san take the news well?"
Unohana bowed to Yamamoto and sat down. She looked sad, and then smiled. "Yes, she accepted graciously."
"Did Toshiro-kun find out?"
"He only heard that his last name was changed to Hitsugaya. He was very cute too. He pronounced his name as Hit-see-gay-A Two-shoe-row."
The old captain blinked blankly, "I knew he was special."
--
Toshiro was raised as a Hitsugaya and grew to believe that his parents were dead and Kohana was actually his grandmother. Kohana often felt troubled when it was winter time because Toshiro believed that that was the time at which his parents met their demise. However, a different story played out in the Gotei 13.
Rangiku slowly walked down the corridor as her fingers skimmed the wall. It had been twenty years since that mission, but the group was still after them. Now that they were in Soul Society, they were safe. But Toshiro still needed to be safe, so they couldn't get him from Kohana. Rangiku sighed sadly as she reported back to her rooms. Another though occurred to her- Gin wouldn't be there. During their mission, they came to the agreement that they just weren't meant to be. It was agreed that Rangiku would take care of Toshiro if they ever got him back.
"Lieutenant Matsumoto, there's a hell butterfly in your office!" Rangiku sighed but went back nonetheless. As it turned out, there was a mysterious presence in West Rukongai that they wanted her and some men to investigate the next day.
When morning came, Rangiku and five other members of squad 10 left to West Rukongai to investigate. The moment they stepped foot there, they felt the presence, but just barely. Most of the reports involved the aura coming out at night so she gave orders to just survey the area and at night they would go on a patrol.
Rangiku strolled through the market area when she saw a flash of silver. She turned and saw a young boy with spiky silver hair with a small pouch. The vendor in front of him dumped the boy's change onto the counter and said something- she was too far away to hear it. The boy had a shocked look on his face and took his change and turned around.
"Hey, is that any way to treat your customer!?" The busty red-head shouted at the vendor. The boy crashed into her chest, hit the stand, and then crashed to the ground. Rangiku moved onto the boy, grabbing by the boy's collar and shaking him. "And you, you need to man up and say something!"
The boy glared at her with bright turquoise eyes, "And whose fault is that!? LET ME GO!"
The boy slapped her hand away and ran down the road.
'Such white hair, and those eyes, they're just like Toshiro's,' she thought sadly. A pang of nostalgia hit her deep in her heart as she thought of her lost baby. She gathered wits and returned to her men. They stayed at an inn until night when a cold burst of air rushed through the town.
"Okay guys, let's go. We'll split into three groups! Two go West, East, and North!"
They split and Rangiku left with a new soldier to where the pressure was coming from. "Stay out here." They had stopped before a small hut…and it seemed so familiar for some reason. She entered and saw two figures. One was shivering violently, an old lady she was, and the other seemed to be a child that was tossing and turning. She walked to him and realized that it was the boy from before.
His large eyes snapped open as he took in a large breath. "AH!"
"You should hide your reiatsu when you're sleeping. And doesn't your grandmother look a bit cold?"
"Who are you?"
Rangiku kneeled to his level, "You can hear a voice can't you, in here?" She placed her index finger on the boy's chest. "Powerful children like you should go to Soul Academy to learn how to control your powers. With that power, your grandmother will die before long."
The boy's eyes widened, "Grandma?"
The next day, the boy asked his grandmother if everything was true and Kohana nodded and told him that she would be proud of him should he go to the Academy. Rangiku stood by the door, a bag was nestled in her hands that contained some of the boy's belongings. After a few minutes, Rangiku and her men, with the boy, made their way back to Soul Society, to the Academy, to enroll him.
"Hey boy," Rangiku called out to the boy behind her. The boy jogged up to her and fiddled with the hem of him yukata.
"Yes?"
"What's your name?"
"My name is," The boy paused as his eyes widened a bit, "Toshiro Hitsugaya."