A/N: this story is not going to be updated often, so don't bother asking. I wrote this bit coz I was exploring the soulmate trope in fanfiction, but finishing the story is really low priority for me.

Chapter 1

"...and so, in light of these grave new developments, the Gotei 13 must stand stronger and more united than ever before. We do not know what plans the traitor Aizen Sousuke has in mind or how they will affect our worlds or the balance between them, but we as shinigami have a duty..."

Hitsugaya kept his gaze fixed firmly on the Soutaichou even as Zaraki shuffled and grumbled, not even trying to hide his boredom. Yamamoto may have been speaking for a long time but that made his words no less relevant. Barely a month had passed since Aizen had revealed himself as a twisted, despicable creature behind his charming façade, and Soul Society was still reeling from his actions and their ramifications.

Momo was hospitalised. A danger to herself and the people around her. Nothing they could do for it but bed rest and sleeping draughts. As always, he felt a sharp twinge low in his gut as he thought of her.

Three captains had betrayed the Gotei 13 and abandoned their posts, leaving their troops shocked and demoralised, and two vice-captains struggling with new burdens even as they strived to limit damage.

To his right, Kurotsuchi began mumbling about some experiment in progress in his labs.

Alright, so maybe Yamamoto had gotten a little repetitive in the last one and a half hours.

"...and with that, I leave you to your responsibilities. Captains, dismissed!" Yamamoto slammed his staff on the wooden floor and quiet chatter began as the captains broke rank and made their way out.

Hitsugaya didn't bother chit-chatting with anyone. He wanted to visit Momo, and then he had backbreaking amounts of paperwork to slog through. That was no one's fault but his; he had taken on a third of the Fifth division's workload in the absence of both its captain and vice-captain. After all, at least one of those was his fault.

He could already feel a headache building up in the base of his skull.

He drew up short as he left the First division and hit the long wooden bridge leading from it.

"Kurosaki? What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes widening in surprise. And it wasn't just the orange-haired ryoka. There were two girls next to him and a man standing just out of sight.

Kurosaki raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, Toushirou! Is the old man in? I need to have a word with him."

Hitsugaya grit his teeth at the boy's irreverence. "First of all, it's Hitsugaya-taichou. Secondly, you can't just walk in unannounced-"

"Ne, Ichi-nii? You said these guys were all warriors." One of the girls, dark-haired and dark-eyed like so many Japanese, pointed at him with no regard for manners or common courtesy. "This guy's just a kid."

"I am not just a kid!" Hitsugaya snapped, feeling the pounding in his head increase.

The girl blinked, unperturbed by his anger and the accompanying rise in reiatsu. "So you fight too? Hey, that's pretty cool!" she grinned.

What his reaction to that might have been would remain a mystery, because at that instant two things happened.

First, the other captains caught up with him.

Secondly, Shiba Isshin stepped out from behind Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Ma, Ichigo-kun! What brings you here?" Ukitake's kindly voice came from behind Hitsugaya, but he barely heard him. A dull buzzing was sounding around him, like a thousand bees had taken residence in his skull. "And...Shiba-taichou? Oh, my..."

Shiba Isshin, his missing Captain Shiba bloody Isshin, placed a hand on Kurosaki's shoulder, calm as you please. "When I heard my son had met all of you, I thought a visit might be in order."

Son? What? The buzzing was growing louder. No one seemed to have noticed but for the dark-haired girl, who was staring confusedly at him.

"And these are my daughters, Karin and Yuzu..."

"Domo." The dark-haired girl, Karin, waved her hand as the other one bowed. Her soulmark was etched darkly across the inside of her wrist.

He had to get a closer look.

Hitsugaya didn't know where the command had come from, but his feet were carrying him forward before he even realised it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shiba-taichou shoot him an pained, guilty look. "Toushirou-kun, I promise I'll explain everything..."

"Your wrist." He heard his voice coming as if from very far away. "Show me your wrist."

He was vaguely aware of the voices around him quieting, of everyone staring at him as he stumbled forward, but Hitsugaya was focused on Karin's wide, confused, dark eyes staring at him.

She raised her arm slowly, palm facing her chest. "It's just some weird mark that appeared when I came here," she mumbled, but Hitsugaya had never heard a clearer voice. Her rich, feminine alto seemed to pierce through the fog around him. "I've never had it before.."

She held her arm out, and there, in an all-too-familiar script, was his own name. Written in neat, precise kanji: Hitsugaya Toushirou.

He exhaled shakily, feeling much as if he'd been punched in the solar plexus.

"What? Does it mean something to you?" Karin asked.

Kurosaki began to say something, but he was hastily hushed by Shiba-taichou.

"My name," Hitsugaya managed. "That's my name." He remembered, suddenly, the other half of the legend, and fumbled at the leather band around his wrist. His fingers were trembling, he could barely untie the cord, but at last it was off.

He thrust his wrist at Karin. "Can you read it?" he demanded. "Can you read it?"

Karin didn't take her eyes off his face. Large, dark eyes set in a pale face. She looked scared? apprehensive? Little wonder, he must look deranged.

She glanced at his wrist. "Shiba Karin," she read. "But my name is Kurosaki..."

"Shiba is my family name," Shiba-taichou spoke up gravely. He was looking strangely at Hitsugaya, as if he had never quite seen him properly before. "By rights, it should be yours as well."

Karin turned back to Hitsugaya. "But why do you have my name on your hand?" she asked puzzledly.

He stared at her. The buzzing in his head reached deafening proportions. He was seized by the desperate urge to do something, only he had no idea what...

"Oi, what's going on?" Kurosaki's voice blared suddenly and unpleasantly in his ear. "Karin, get back and let me-"

"Ichigo, no!" Shiba-taichou was calling distantly, but Hitsugaya watched in slow-motion as Kurosaki's hand came and wrapped around Karin's upper arm.

Karin screamed.

Instantly, a sharp, blinding bolt of pain flashed through him, coupled with a feeling of intense violation.

"Don't." he heard a voice snarl, barely recognised it as his own. He saw his hand come up, wrench away Kurosaki's, brush against Karin's smooth arm.

It was as if an electric shock ran through him. He saw Karin jolt, saw in her startled gaze that she had felt it too, and then his vision tunneled and the entire world went black.

A/N: Constructive criticism is always appreciated.