Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that I choose to use in this fanfiction…

To my readers… I have watched the entire series, and I even read the manga, I make the plotline the way it is, because I wish it to be. If the characters seem OOC, then I apologize, but please do not insult my writing capability or some nonsense like that. I promise to give you an interesting story the best I can. As an added disclaimer, I made the story without the constraints of time, just enjoy the twists and turns of my tale, and try not to get too technical with me. Ok? THANKS!

"Captain!"

Toshiro barely had time to register his lieutenant's warning before swinging his sword up to block the attack swung at his head. They were currently in the realm of the living near Karakura Town, and were completely surrounded by Menos Grande. But for every one they cut down, it was only replaced by two more. Toshiro knew that they were eventually going to run out of energy, and that they needed to finish this battle now.

Swinging his blade high over his head, boy captain let loose a volley of ten ice dragons, each tearing into a Menos Grande. Chest heaving as he labored to catch his breath from the large scale attack so late in the game, Toshiro turned to Ichigo Kurosaki and the young Quincy, Uryu Ishida.

"Ichigo, Ishida!" He cried "Find the source where the Menos are coming through, and use any means necessary to seal the hole!"

"Right!" Both replied before flash stepping into thin air.

Nodding his head in confidence of their abilities, the ice master turned once again towards his enemy, and prepared for another energy draining attack. With Ichigo and his friends defeating the Menos all the way up to the leak, there was a good chance of victory if he defeated all the ones here, and then rushed to help the substitute shinigami.

Lifting his sword into the air, Toshiro focused much of his last vestiges of energy, and then prepared himself for what he hoped would be his final attack.

"Bankai…"

Icy wings spread themselves from his shoulders and back, while a crystalline claw spread down his arm and a wicked tail whipped the air behind him. Even though Toshiro disliked using this technique in this form, he knew that Bankai would help him call forth an attack strong enough to finish off all the Menos in one fell swoop; he just had to wait for the right moment. Slowly all the Menos Grande sensed the awesome power radiating from him, and all began to cluster together as they surrounded the ice master. Closing his eyes, the boy captain focused his energy above each of the Menos Grande, feeling the air around them shift as he affected it. His turquoise eyes glowing an icy blue, the boy whispered softly;

"Hyoten Hyakkaso."

His zanpakutou shone with a bright light, before a brilliant beam shot up into the sky. The clouds gathered as they roiled from the immense energy being released, until finally, small holes opened up above each of the remaining Menos. Fellow shinigami quickly retreated, getting out of the way of the devastating attack they knew was coming. Snow poured through each of the holes, and each snowflake that came through soon encased the Menos Grande in flowers of ice. Multiple columns rose up towards the sky as their enemies were taken down, but as Toshiro let out a sigh of relief, he didn't hear the cry of warning before he was slammed into the ground by one Menos he had somehow missed.

As he lay on the ground, the boy captain watched through blurred vision as his lieutenant took down his attacker, but eventually all melted away into black.

…..

"Is he going to be ok?"

Ichigo paced back and forth across the room at Kisuke Urahara's shop. When the substitute soul reaper had arrived back at the original battleground to report that he and Ishida had successfully sealed up the hole, the last thing he had expected was to see Toshiro having suffered a massive head injury and lying in a pool of his own blood. Ichigo had then gathered the young captain up into his arms, and ran as fast as he could to the former twelfth squad captain, hoping against hope that they could save his friend.

But that was well over four hours ago.

Rangiku Matsumoto gave a heavy sigh laced with grief. "I just don't know Ichigo…" she murmured, her face downcast and sullen "He lost a lot of blood, and I can't lie and say that his head injury will be easy to heal."

Ichigo let out a groan of frustration before flopping down on the floor beside his friend Renji. Looking around, the substitute shinigami gazed on the faces of his friend. Rukia, Renji, Chad, Ishida, and Orihime, all of their faces were drawn and etched with concern. But who wouldn't be? Seeing one of the strongest captains in the Gotei 13 court guard squads lying on the ground with the back of his head bashed in and an impossible amount of blood surrounding his body would shake up anyone.

Finally Kisuke walked out of the room, his features a mask of fatigue, but this uncharacteristic seriousness was diminished when he attempted his usual cheesy grin at the glum team mates.

"He's going to pull through!"

Sighs of relief rang out around the room as everyone jumped up, all crying out questions, trying to find out more about the state of their fallen comrade. Waving his hands in a calming gesture, Urahara yelled over the cacophony of voices.

"Hey, calm down!" Kisuke yelled "I said he's going to be fine, but there were some complications!"

The reply was unanimous "WHAT?"

Urahara sighed as he finally attained silence. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the former twelfth captain let out a sigh and then slowly began to explain the situation.

"Because of the head injury, it appears the poor captain will be having issues with his memory."

"Issues with his memory," Ichigo gasped "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Taking out his bamboo fan, the older man began to flap it anxiously "The healing process went pretty well, but Toshiro actually came around faster than I expected. When he woke up, we discovered that his memory has regressed."

"Regressed, you mean he lost his memory?" Ishida asked his eyes wide with shock.

"Oh no…" Rangiku moaned, burying her face into her hands. After taking several shuddering breaths, the ginger headed woman finally looked back up at Kisuke with tear filled eyes "How much has he forgotten?"

"You see, this is where it gets pretty interesting" Kisuke smiled eagerly, his scientist nature taking over. "Technically he has forgotten everything, but-"

"How is completely losing his memory interesting, you jerk?" Renji ground out his eyes flashing with malice.

"Because, if you would let me finish you would find out that Toshiro's memory has regressed to the time when he was still alive."

That statement made everyone in the room jerk back in shock. To when he was still alive? From what they knew about the small captain he had grown up in one of the many small districts around soul society, but no one, not even his own grandmother, knew where he had come from before then. Technically most ghosts remembered their past, but there were some who forgot everything on the journey to soul society. Toshiro had been one of them. His past was nothing more than a blur, and he had never spent much time dwelling on it due to his responsibilities as a captain. But now his memory of that time was back, what changes would it bring?

"So let me get this straight" Ichigo said in a low voice "Toshiro's memory has returned to when he was alive, and that was how long ago exactly?"

"I have no idea" Kisuke shrugged "But I think it may be during the time right before he died. He didn't react when I called him by his first name, and has no idea that he is from the soul society. As far as he knows, he is still in Fukuoka with his family."

"Fukuoka, the old fishing village known for making hand spun Kasuri cloth?" Ishida asked in wonder.

"Indeed" Urahara nodded "At any rate, I think it is safe for you guys to come in and see him, but I warn you, he is not acting like his normal self. So try to keep your shock at a manageable level."

Exchanging looks of nervous curiosity, the group slowly filed in the room to find their comrade sitting up in bed laughing at joking with Jinta. Despite the bandage on his head, the change in the young captain was evident from the first moment they looked on him. His brow was smooth of the wrinkles usually furrowed down the middle, and his mouth was upturned in a carefree smile as he laughed at something Jinta had said. Turning to face his guests, the boy captain gasped, and then greeted them with an adorable grin.

"Hi!" he cried enthusiastically "Are you the people that saved me?"

"Uh…." Ichigo felt his eyebrow twitch as he tried to comprehend the uncharacteristic behavior of his longtime friend "Yeah, we are."

"I'm sorry if I don't remember you" the young boy shrugged, his wide turquoise eyes gleaming with childlike innocence "but I am very happy to meet you anyway. My name is Suri Tanosei, I am six years old, and I live in Fukuoka with my parents in our cloth shop."

An alarm bell rang in the back of Ichigo's head at the name, but try as hard as he might, he couldn't remember why. Giving his head a firm shake the red head listened as each member introduced themselves with nervous uncomfortable voices. Toshiro politely bowed to each of them with each introduction until it was finally the substitute soul reaper's turn.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, I'm seventeen years old, and I live in Karakura town in my family's clinic."

"Your name is Ichigo?" Toshiro asked his head cocked to one side in confusion.

"Y-yeah…" the teen replied, giving a heavy swallow as a feeling of unease burst in his stomach "Do not like it or something?"

"No," Toshiro answered slowly, his face suddenly breaking into a wide grin "It's just I have a cousin named Ichigo who lives in Karakura town. We are gonna meet for the first time when he comes to visit my house in a few weeks!"

The substitute shinigami gasped as he felt like someone had just busted him in the gut with a sledgehammer. His focus only on the bedridden child in front of him, Ichigo felt the room tilt as suddenly all the pieces began to fit together. Stumbling away from the injured captain of squad ten, Ichigo labored to bring air into his lungs as he began to hyperventilate.

"No… no it can't be…"

"Ichigo?" Rukia reached up to place a hand on the teen's trembling shoulders "Is something wrong?"

"I…" Ichigo looked down at his friend, and then suddenly ran from the room at full speed.

Kisuke noticed the panicked look on his pupil's face before the ginger headed boy had made his dramatic exit. It was extremely rare when he, the almighty Kisuke Urahara, did not know something. He could practically smell that something interesting was afoot, and he couldn't wait to find out the details.

"What's his problem?" Renji muttered his face a mask of concern as he gazed in the direction Ichigo had ran.

"Did I say something bad?"

All eyes turned towards the small voice and were shocked to see the boy captain near to tears.

"No, no of course not!" Renji tried to console the boy "Ichigo is just weird and tends to overreact to the smallest things! You don't have to worry about him!"

"But…" a tear rolled down from one turquoise eye, and the small captain sniffled as he tried to catch the rest as they began to stream down his face "He looked really mad, and I'm scared that I hurt his feelings."

The entire room fell into an uncomfortable silence as each waited for the other to do something. Finally Matsumoto stepped forward, and used one hand to gently wipe the tears away. Her face glowing with what could only be described as maternal love the lieutenant brushed his bangs aside and placed a tender kiss on his forehead.

"Don't worry sweetie" she said in a soothing tone "you didn't do anything wrong."

Green/blue eyes looked up at her full of childish emotion before he broke out in a toothy grin. Springing forward the boy captain flung his arms around the woman's neck, hugging her tightly.

"I like you!" he declared "You're like my mom."

Rangiku stiffened in shock at the unexpected contact, but quickly recovered as she returned the hug. After letting go, Toshiro sat back in his spot on the bed, but this time his face was troubled.

"Hey squirt, what's wrong?" Renji didn't know where the nickname came from, but with Hitsugaya acting like such a little kid, it just seemed natural.

"Well…" Toshiro bit his bottom lip in indecision for a few moments before asking in a small voice "When can I go home?"

"Uhhh…." Was the main consensus as everyone looked around at each other, unsure of how to answer the small child trapped inside a teenager's body.

"Don't worry!" Kisuke spoke in a jovial tone "I have already taken care of getting a hold of your parents. They will be here within the next few days to pick you up."

"Why can't they be here now?"

Tears once again threatened to spill over and Kisuke began to wave his arms in panic as he grasped for a valid reason concerning the delay of Suri's parents.

"Something about a car!" he yelled, waving his fan around in the air dancing back and forth "Yes, they said the car was broken down, and that they would be here as soon as they can but everything is going wrong right now, but they promise that they are coming as soon as possible!"

"Our car?" Toshiro cocked his head in confusion "Do you mean the truck my dad uses for deliveries?"

"YE-ES!" Urahara practically sang.

"..oh…"

The sound was so forlorn it broke the heart of all who were listening, which basically caused the following chaos to ensue. Before the boy captain could even blink, boxes of chocolate were placed on his knees followed by bowls of ice cream and jelly beans. Kisuke let Jinta back into the room, and the kid even shared his second NintendoDS with the amnesiac, which cheered Toshiro up even more. Soon both boys were munching on candy and shrieking in joy as they began to play against each other in the virtual worlds created especially for children.

Rukia and the others slowly left the room with its occupants, and sat down in the dining area of Kisuke's apartment, all wearing a mask of fatigue and worry.

"How long do you think he will stay like that?" Orihime asked quietly.

"No telling." Ishida replied sullenly "It could be permanent for all we know."

"I sincerely hope not…" Matsumoto sighed, her eyes staring at the sliding door separating them from the injured captain "I would hate to have to watch Toshiro be stripped of his rank, and then go through the agony of dealing with a new Captain. It just wouldn't feel right without Captain Hitsugaya in charge of Squad Ten."

All nodded in agreement, each wincing inwardly at the repercussions of what would inevitably happen, should Toshiro's condition prove to be permanent. Suddenly Renji's head popped up, his eyes flaming with anger and frustration.

"Where's Ichigo?" he snarled "It isn't like him to just abandon his friends when we are in the middle of a crisis. What's wrong with him, why did he just take off?"

"Think about what Toshiro said" Chad's deep baritone cut through the air for the first time since the crisis began "He mentioned having a cousin named Ichigo from Karakura town, and Kisuke says his memories are from when he was alive. Maybe Ichigo and Toshiro have a deeper connection than any of us know?"

Mouths hung open in shock at the large Hispanic teen's words. Indeed, they had heard those words come from Toshiro's mouth, and then had seen Ichigo react like he had seen a ghost(pardon the pun). Maybe something deeper was going on here. Well, there was only one way to find out and that was only by waiting for Ichigo to come back, and then beat the answers out of him. Luckily though, they did not have long to wait.

Ichigo burst through the doors of Kisuke's shop, a box in his hands, and his face slick with sweat as he gasped for air.

"I…" he panted, his eyes dark and serious "I found it, I found him."

What is the past connection between Toshiro and Ichigo? Find out next chapter! Please remember to READ and REVIEW!