Hitsugaya slowly opened his teal eyes, squinting as he was assaulted by the harsh sunlight. "Ughh..." He groaned lowly, putting his hand against the side of his head, rubbing at his scalp to try and get his headache to go away. As his eyes became used to the light, and his headache receded a bit, he looked around cautiously, in case someone were to jump and attack him. He was in Karakura town, a place he'd been in many times before for various missions. But something seemed different, and Hitsugaya couldn't place it. He slowly stood up from the ground-how'd he end up there? His teal eyes looked around, noticing he was near the park where children were playing joyfully. "Hmm... I don't remember being sent down here..." He muttered to himself, eyebrows connecting in confusion. Actually, the last thing he remembered was... Was getting attacked by Aizen's sword. Suddenly all the memories came rushing back to him. Harribel getting killed by Aizen, planning to protect Ichigo from Aizen's Shikai, attacking Aizen head-on, activating his Bankai and attacking Aizen again... But in the end hurting Hinamori. Then his Bankai getting cut through, resulting in him loosing his left arm and most of his left leg, then falling... Falling down into the town below. Hitsugaya stumbled backwards, hitting a tree but not reacting when he did so, seeming lost and dizzy as he stared up at the sky, hand against his forehead. "I was... I was killed... But that can't be..." He muttered, groaning.
"Heya there!" A voice chirped, a blurry face appearing in his vision, only causing Hitsugaya more confusion. The face wasn't familiar, and neither was the voice. "Hellooooo~ Ya' in there?" The voice chimed cheerfully, waving a hand in front of his face.
Hitsugaya blinked, eyes focusing on the face, realizing it was a girl. Shoulder length light brown hair fell in soft waves, bangs hanging over her eyes bust also sculpted around her smiling face. "W-Who are you...?" He asked, a confused frown on his lips.
"Ah, so you are there. Names' Izumi Isoya. Izumi, Izzie is fine though. What 'bout you?" She asked, grinning cheerfully at him, strange violet/blue eyes sparkling joyfully.
"T-Toshiro... Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya is fine." He answered shakily. He didn't understand how he was alive, and in Karakura town. His eyes widened suddenly though as a story his Grandmother once told him came to mind.
"Listen closely Shiro-chan... Those Soul Reapers here in Soul Society have a story telling of when one of their own got killed during battle." His Grandmother said, holding Hitsugaya on her lap, despite the scowl on the boys' lips.
"Why would I want to know about this stupid story? It's not like I'm going to become a Soul Reaper, or care about what has happened to them." Hitsugaya grumbled, clearly displeased.
His Grandmother laughed, patting him on the head. "It's just a story Shiro." She said.
Hitsugaya harrumphed, crossing his arms over his chest, "Alright..." He grumbled.
She laughed again, then sat back slightly in her chair, closing her eyes as if trying to remember the exact details to the story. "His name was Kaiten Momokiro. He was the previous Captain of squad 10, and was sent down into the World of the Living to defeat a team of Menos Grande, which are a type of very strong Hollow Shiro-chan, and was taken down by one and killed in the process. A service was quickly put up for him, and his death was mourned for a long time. Months after his death, squad 10's Lieutenant was sent down to do recon. It was then that the Lieutenant ran into Kaiten, at first she couldn't believe it. Kaiten was dead, she had seen him get hit by the Menos, went to his service and cried her eyes out nights after. There was no way he was alive. When she confronted him, in her Gigai-which is a temporary body that allows a Soul Reaper to be seen by Humans-he remembered her. He told her of everything that had happened to him when the Menos had killed him, he had been sent into a blinding white light, and when he woke up he was in the middle of the woods in the town that the attack had been in. He didn't know how he ended up there, so he went to see a Seer-of sorts. She told him that he had been Reincarnated as a Human to live out a life he never had, to do things differently, the Lieutenant could hardly believe him. But she was ecstatic about seeing him again, after all those long months, so she believed him, and his odd story."
"So what happened after that?" Hitsugaya hated to admit it, but he had become very intrigued by the story his Grandmother had told.
"She ended up getting killed aswell... By accident, a stray attack hit her. She too was Reincarnated, and went to find Kaiten, who was doing very well in the World of the Living, and they got married and had a few kids, and ended up living the rest of their lives together and happy. When they died they went up into the Soul Society, and from there on out were together." She finished, a smile on her lips as her eyes shined against the afternoon sun.
"They were Reincarnated so they could live together?" Hitsugaya asked.
"Some say that, yes." She answered, affectionately ruffling his hair, chuckling as he whined and childishly pushed her away.
"Hitsugaya eh? So are you new here?" Izumi asked, genuinely curious.
Hitsugaya blinked, looking up at the girl. If he had been Reincarnated, maybe she had been too? But, she didn't look familiar in the least. 'She must actually be a human.' He thought to himself. Was he Reincarnated to meet her? 'Cause out of everyone in Karakura to find him, Izumi had. "Uh... Yes, I just moved here." He answered.
"Only you?"
"Yah..."
"Weird... How old are you?"
Here Hitsugaya paused, not sure how to answer. He bit his lip idly, thinking to himself as he examined her, she looked around 17. So he was probably that age too, right? "17, I... Uh, I have no family. They all died in a fire years ago."
"Aww. I'm sorry." Izumi's eyes became saddened, and Hitsugaya was hit with an assault of wanting to comfort the girl. "Do you want to stay with me and my Mom? We have an extra room."
Hitsugaya blinked, surprised at the kind offer. She had just met him, a stranger, and was already giving him a place to stay. Wasn't she scared of him being some sort of creeper? Stealing their most cherished items while they slept? "I'd love to." The words escaped his mouth without him thinking clearly, and the bright look was back in Izumi's eyes, and he was relieved. He didn't like seeing the obviously cheerful girl sad.
"Sweet! C'mon then... Oh, I can probably treat that cut on your cheek there." Izumi said, suddenly getting into his personal bubble.
"What?"
"You have a cut on your cheek." She reached her hand out, pointing.
He blinked, hand reaching up to touch where she was pointing, staring in surprise at the red blood on his finger. "How'd that happen...?"
"Haven't a clue, but it looks pretty nasty. So c'mon!" Izumi stated, grabbing his wrist to pull him away from the tree, walking forwards cheerfully. A little giggle left her lips as Hitsugaya stumbled before being able to find his feet, walking next to her, allowing her grip on his wrist to stay.