Note: This fanfic follows more Toshiro's thoughts and OC's.
~Chapter One~
Boring patrol. Of course Squad Ten would get this guard mission because the Royal family wanted to move it. Toshiro stood below the massive cloud holding the Royal Family Guards moving the Ouin. Rangiku appeared next to him, reporting back from check-up duty.
"All stations are normal." She paused and looked up at the cloud. "Wow, it's even more amazing up close." Toshiro pulled from his thoughts and looked at the cloud.
"There's always a fanfare surrounding royalty." He sighed. She looked at him with a grin.
"Listen to you; you'll get in trouble for saying such things Captain." He closed his eyes in frustration.
"Yeah well you should…" He stopped in mid sentence to see a lightning bolt struck one of the shrines they were carrying.
"Rangiku, alert the squad!"
"Right!" Toshiro ignored the lightning and headed for a flame that had broken out in the out in the other shrine they were carrying. The fireball headed right for Toshiro, but he blocked it with his zanpaku-tou. A girl appeared from the fireball, unphased. He looked up at the short red haired girl with a, what seemed to him, like an Arrancar mask.
"Identify yourself." He said calmly. Her sword started freezing and her eyes widened. She did back flips away and started running, laughing, like this was a game to her. Toshiro followed her to the top of the burning shrine where he stopped. She had vanished into thin air. He looked around before looking down a large hole that had been made in the shrine. A thick spiritual pressure was released, when a blade quickly came out of the darkness and stabbed him in the stomach. He jumped back, letting the four inches of blade leave his stomach. A cloaked figure jumped out of the hole and stood on the opposite side.
"Who are you? I demand to know." Toshiro seem spaced out. The man wore a Hollow mask and just stood in silence. He drew his sword and charged at him. The man was quick and had excellent reflexes. Rangiku had showed up and was watching from below.
"Captain!" This was bad and he knew it. The man swung his sword and Toshiro blocked it. He flicked his long hair, before finally speaking.
"You haven't changed at all!"
"Show your face!" Toshiro yelled. He tried to reach for his mask, but grabbed his cloak.
"Stop!" He darted off and Toshiro knew he had to make the decision. He was ready to pursue, but Rangiku called out, "Captain!" He stopped and looked at the hole in the shrine again, before glancing at her. He knew what this would lead to, but he had to know. He darted off without looking back.
He caught up with the man quickly. Exchanging more blows and blocks, he knew he was getting nowhere fast. The man could read all of his moves like an open book, like he had studied him. The man flashed stepped back and disappeared into thin air like the girl had.
His energy had been depleted heavily and he couldn't go back. He hadn't realized how far he had traveled, so he wandered wearily for a while. His stomach wound was bleeding profusely and it was deeper than he thought. Damn. At this rate the stealth force will find me. He looked ahead to see a forest, the leaves gently floating in the cool breeze. It must be mid fall, he thought. He leaned against a tree and suppressed his spiritual pressure as best he could. His vision was starting to blur from the stress on his body. He noticed he was still holding on to the perpetrator's cloak. I want to believe it, but don't. You can't still be alive, that would be impossible! He just had a feeling that he was right. It would be a nightmare revisited and it was trouble all around.
The hours passed and the stealth force had set a barrier up nearby to investigate the scene. Some people had gone by and talked. At this point, he couldn't tell who. He was so depleted and exhausted that it was hard to distinguish. The barrier vanished; they had finally left. He released his spiritual pressure and started walking. It had begun to snow, a gentle, soft feeling on his cold body. He walked and stopped a couple feet in front of the two people he couldn't make out. He wanted to ask if they had seen anyone suspicious, even with the knowledge he wouldn't get far. This was his problem though. He was here because of him and he was going to fix it. He wanted to move more, but his body gave in and collapsed. Someone yelled 'Toshiro', so it was someone who knew him. Before blacking out, he managed to mumble, "Kusa…ka…."
It overall had been a very boring day. Yuki had spent the day with Captain Ukitake, who hadn't been feeling well. Kaoru had wandered off and Yumikou was more likely than not, glorifying Captain Kenpachi. Aika was either yelling at her perverted brother Shunsui or hanging out with Hisagi. Toshiro said that Squad Ten was assigned a mission, so he was gone too. Around ten-o-clock, a hell butterfly came bearing the announcement of an emergency captain's meeting. She had a bad feeling of the subject; the stealth force had left a couple of hours ago and it seemed serious. Toshiro's spiritual pressure was feint and she was worried that something had happened.
"Hey, don't look so worried. I'm sure it's no big deal." Ukitake attempted to comfort her. She just couldn't shake this feeling.
He began to walk around, trying to calm her nerves. She managed to bump into Kaoru along the way.
"Hey. I was just coming back. I WAS going to hang out with Yumikou, but Yumichika said she was off chasing Kenpachi somewhere. So then I went to go find Byakuya, but he had to go to a Captain's meeting." Kaoru looked at her spaced out face.
"Hey, are you listening?!"
"Sorry. I'm just worried about Toshiro." Kaoru looked at her weird.
"Why? What happened?"
"Nothing that I know of, but, I can't shake this feeling." The girls decided to wait for Captain Ukitake back at Squad Thirteen's barracks.
It was about ten minutes before he returned with a furrowed brow.
"What?! What happened?" He sighed before sitting down.
"The Royal Family moved a sacred object called the Ouin. Squad Ten was assigned guard duty, but they were attacked. The Ouin was stolen and…"
"What?" Yuki asked quietly, afraid of the answer.
"Captain Hitsugaya abandoned his post and has been missing. We've been ordered to arrest him and bring him in to question him." Her thoughts were all scrambled up.
"What? You can't be serious. They can't think Toshiro had major involvement!" Yuki just blankly stared.
"Don't do anything reckless. Just obey orders." He said gently. Yuki stood and began walking out.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"To alert the substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki." She started running towards the Squad Ten barracks.
"Where are you going?" Kaoru asked.
"Go tell Yumikou and Aika what has happened. I need to find him Kaoru."
"Figured." She mumbled and vanished.
Yuki quickly approached the barracks to find Rangiku there, looking very depressed.
"Lieutenant Matsumoto, what happened?" Yuki asked in a hurry.
"Yuki, I'm sorry. I can't help you. I'm afraid I'm not really sure myself." There was a pause, before she spoke again.
"We're going to be confined here. In a matter of minutes, superiors will be here to make us give up our zanpaku-to's. If you're going to look for the Captain, I don't know where he is, but be careful. He had this look in his eyes. If anyone can find him, it's you." She nodded and quickly left. Her head was so clouded and confused, it all happened so fast. Yamamoto had opened the Senkaimon temporarily for anyone to pass through if they had a lead. Yuki left quickly, heading towards the Kurosaki residence.