Author's Note: Whoo, another new fanfic, The Taichou and the Ryoka! This is set during the Soul Society arc, and like Smile, there'll be a lot of action, adventure, and plot twists! And IchiHitsu, of course...Ooh la la. Hitsugaya will be a tad OOC. I'm making him a lot meaner and stricter...and crueler and Mayuri-ish than he is in the original series.

More Bleach business; I'm pissed off about the new filler arc that's starting next week. Dammit. And who agrees with me that as a child, Byakuya was simply adorable?

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. If I did, Orihime could stay in Hueco Mundo forever for all I care. That bitch. Flirting shamelessly with Ichigo, knowing full well that his heart belongs to Hitsugaya...Harhar.

"Reporting in! One of the ryoka has been spotted in the region of the eleventh division barracks. He will arrive in the domain of the tenth division within ten minutes at his current speed of movement!"

"Which one?"

"Well, er...the one..."

With a small scoff, Hitsugaya Toshiro looked coldly at his subordinate who knelt on the floor before him, his steely teal eyes boring holes into the hapless shinigami's soul. Brushing a stray lock of silvery-white hair from his face, he impatiently went on.

"There were five of them, and a cat. If you can't describe the ryoka to me, then you are much stupider than you look."

"The orange-haired one, sir..." the poor shinigami answered in a frightened voice, noting that the temperature was starting to drop as his captain's temper worsened.

"There are two orange-haired ryoka," Hitsugaya snapped. "Don't tell me that you can't tell the difference between a male and a female."

"It was a male, sir!"

Hitsugaya blinked.

"Very well. You are excused."

"Hai, taichou!" With a salute, the subordinate scurried off.

"Orange-haired male..." Hitsugaya murmured to himself. "Then he must be the one who took out Madarame, Abarai, Zaraki, and Kuchiki...Those idiots. They must have let their guards down, or something like that..."

He stood from his seat behind the large oak desk, straightening a stack of paperwork as he did so. He then reached to a katana resting on the table, in its sheath with a deeply-colored green sash wound around it. He picked it up, slinging the sash over his shoulder.

"…Most likely, they underestimated him," he continued, speaking to himself, "Even so, he must be much stronger than the sotaichou had anticipated."

He stepped forward, crossing the room towards the doors. If this so-called "ryoka" was going to set foot on his division's property, than so be it. He would regret it, and in exchange for his stupidity, he would have to deal with the captain of the tenth division himself.

As Hitsugaya approached the door, he passed a small photograph that had been neatly taped to the wall, a photograph immortalizing the image of a certain shinigami that had already been dead for years. He glanced at it for a moment before moving on.

"Wish me luck…Kusaka."

After what seemed like hours of running, Kurosaki Ichigo was exhausted.

He had no freaking idea where Ganju, Ishida, Orihime, or Chad were, or even little Hanataro, for that matter. He had lost sight and track of them all alone, and he was constantly wondering if all of them were alright.

He had been focusing on the tower that supposedly held Rukia, every dead end succeeding only in frustrating him more and more. He had no idea where the hell he was or which way he was supposed to go now, though a few minutes before, he had passed the kanji character for the number ten painted on the wall, so he knew he had made some progress since he had left the eleventh division grounds.

"You there! Freeze!"

Glancing to his left, much to his dismay, Ichigo discovered that there were several shinigami running towards him, their swords drawn. Judging on their reiatsu, Ichigo assumed none of them were terribly strong and they would be no trouble at all.

He swung his sword downwards, emitting a burst of spiritual energy. This was all it took to take down half of the shinigami that were charging towards him.

Another struck at his right, and he blocked the blow easily with Zangetsu, knocking his opponent off balance with a sweep of the leg, dispatching another pair in the process.

One more left.

He thrust Zangetsu into the remaining opponent's stomach, jerking the blade free as droplets of blood splattered to the ground. Blood dripping from his lips, the shinigami crumpled to the floor.

"Whew," the strawberry murmured. "That was quite a workout…"

The shinigami he had just stabbed, who was not quite yet dead, reached out, grabbing the hem of his hakama before he could walk away, a smile of glee on his blood-stained face as he wheezed out in a brief moment of cracked laughter.

"What?" Ichigo demanded, trying to pull loose. "What's so funny?"

"You may have defeated us…" the man choked out, still smiling ear to ear as if he had just told an insanely funny joke, "…But you won't…leave the tenth division alive…"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're no match for the taichou!" the shinigami shrieked delightedly, his grip tightening on the fabric of Ichigo's garments. "The taichou…He'll…He'll avenge us…You just wait and see…You'll wish you were never born…"

"You…"

"He's gonna…Rip of your stupid face…Slit your throat and watch you beg pitifully for mercy…Paint the ground in your blood…"

"Oh, come on! You're making him sound like an axe murderer or something. Let go of my hakama!"

"A murderer?" the shinigami repeated. The insane grin only widened further as his cackling increased. "Oh, no…The taichou ain't even human…He's a monster…"

"What do you mean?"

"Heh-heh…You'll find out soon enough…"

Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if it was just his imagination, or was the temperature dropping rapidly? No. He wasn't dreaming. In fact, a thin layer of ice had begun to crystallize over the bloodstained floor. His chocolate eyes widened. Right after he had noticed the ground beginning to freeze over, he realized why. It was being caused by a reiatsu, a terrifying, crushing power that seemed to be freezing his blood in his veins, clutching at his heart with its icy fingers.

"Here he comes…" the shinigami rasped in glee, his grip on Ichigo's hakama loosening. "The juuban tai taichou…H-Hitsugaya…Hitsugaya Toshiro-sama…"

No sooner had the shinigami spoke these words, Ichigo looked up just in time to see a figure appear, its silhouette blurred by the icy mist that had been brought about by its reiatsu.

A bead of sweat trickled down Ichigo's forehead. He wasn't sure what to expect: Some huge man with a sadistic smile to rival Kenpachi's? A third arm? Claws, maybe?

The shinigami finally relinquished hold in his hakama, his arms dropping limply to the floor.

Ichigo swallowed hard as the approaching captain of the tenth division stepped from the mist, his full figure coming into view.

What Ichigo saw shocked him.

He was startlingly young, with tufted locks of hair the color of snow and large, piercing emerald eyes that seemed to be drilling icy holes into the depths of his soul. He had a light complexion with silkily smooth skin and a slender figure, the white obi holding his kimono together at his slim waist.

"He…He's only a kid…"

There had to be some kind of mistake. But, with his heart sinking, Ichigo realized this was no misunderstanding. The stark white haori that rested over the boy's shoulder distinctly identified him as the captain of the tenth division.

Ichigo lifted Zangetsu, ready to fight.

But he found it extremely hard to. Despite everything, he found himself not wanting to hurt the young boy. After all, he looked so innocent and delicate, like an exquisite china doll that would shatter into pieces just with a single touch.

Finally, Hitsugaya spoke.

"You are Kurosaki Ichigo, correct?"

His voice was so cold that Ichigo almost shivered. He did nothing but merely nod.

How did he know my name?

"And, I'm assuming it was you who did this to my subordinates?"

"Hai, Hitsugaya-taichou!" the shinigami that had been clutching at Ichigo's hakama moments before spluttered, weakly trying to crawl to his captain, groveling on the floor at his feet. "It was…It was the boy…He did this to us…Avenge us, taichou, please…Kill him…Spill his blood…"

"Silence."

"…K-Kill him…please…"

"I told you to be quiet!" Hitsugaya hissed. He unsheathed his katana, slamming it into his subordinate's body in a single, quick movement.

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock as blood spurted every which way. The shinigami shrieked in pain, and yet, Hitsugaya looked completely unfazed, his icy teal eyes cold as ever as he pulled the blade from his subordinate's stomach. He didn't even bat his dark lashes at the sickening sound of his blade tearing through flesh or his subordinate's pitiful, choked scream.

"T-Taichou…Wh…What are you doing…?" the shinigami choked out, blood dripping from his mouth. "Please…Please heal me…With your powers, Hitsugaya-sama…these injuries are nothing…"

"I don't understand why it is so difficult for you to follow my orders."

In another flash of steel, Hitsugaya drew the blade across the shinigami's throat. Blood spurted into the air, splattering onto the floor as the shinigami pitched forward, dead.

Ichigo swallowed, a small pang of fear gnawing at the back of his mind. How could this kid kill his own subordinates so confidently and so heartlessly, as if he was doing nothing more than swatting an annoying fly? He hadn't even hesitated.

"Now then, Kurosaki Ichigo..." the captain of the tenth division spoke, lifting his eyes to meet the strawberry's stunned gaze, "...Shall we begin?"

Author's Note: Whoo, first chapter is up. I know Hitsugaya is extremely OOC and really scary...But there is a purpose for that, so don't be all, "WTF HOW COULD YOU MAKE HITSU A KILLING MACHINE." I warned you in the firsy Author's Note! You'll just have to wait and see...Anyways, yay or nay?