Okay um. Hi! Hahahaha. This is my first story here, but obviously not the first one I've ever written! There's a definite pairing in this. :)

I hope you guys like it! ...I don't know what else to say! So...enjoy!

Winter had always been a welcome thing, at least to him. Though the earth would die for a short time, it was a time of rest and a time of beauty. He could feel at home in the branches of a frozen cherry tree with the wind at his back and his eyes to the clouds. At times it almost seemed as if his counterpart's manifest would press its icy scales against his back in greeting.

Here was where he could feel Hyourinmaru.

Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the tenth division of the thirteen court guard squads, was at peace. He hadn't been able to calm down recently, which had served to worry his peers and superiors. The frigid captain had been on-edge. They had suggested that he take a holiday, which he didn't object to. He knew where he needed to be. And now here he was.

Jumping down from his perch, the small white-haired man peered at his surroundings. He was in a park with no one around, and solitude was a strange and very welcome thing to him. With Rangiku around, it was seldom that anyone could find time to himself.

As he walked, the snow seemed to shimmer in greeting. He couldn't help but smile, at least a little bit, as a few flecks of the white down landed on his nose.

Where would he go? The world was open to him now. Head-captain Yamamoto hadn't told him when to go back to the Soul Society, though it was doubtless that he would be needed at some point. And then there was the thought of Rangiku doing paperwork—

No, he couldn't think about it. He was in the world of the living to take a vacation, no matter how short it would turn out to be. The last thing that he needed to worry about was paperwork.

"Rangiku said that she would take care of it." Plumes of white smoke floated out with his words to join the clouds. "I have to believe her. She was worried, too."

He had to admit, though, that being in a gigai after so long was strange. Toshiro didn't feel like himself. Rather, he felt almost as if he was in a dream; the captain's awareness of his surroundings was compromised and his head felt light, his thoughts scattered. Was this what it felt like to be human? He didn't remember. It had been so long.

"How…interesting."

Toshiro stopped in his tracks. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't felt the twisted spiritual pressure that now surrounded him. Though it was weak, the hollow's very presence was oppressive.

"You smell like a soul reaper. A strong one. But why are you here?"

He wasn't about to be questioned by a half-wit monster. Toshiro shed the skin of the gigai with surprising ease and relished in the feeling of his heightened senses' return. He could smell the freshness of snow, feel the individual molecules in the air brushing against his fingertips. How did humans live without knowing these things?

Hyourinmaru was relieved of its sheath – and the hollow of one of its arms - in one quick motion. Blood the color of rubies stained the snow.

"You bastard!" The hollow snarled, stepping out into the light. It was just as ugly as all of the others that Toshiro had ever seen. The mask resembled the face of a lion in a peculiar way, but the body was as warped as any other hollow's. The hollow gripped the stump where its arm had been with the only gnarled hand that it had left. "My arm! Dammit!"

"That will be enough of that!" Toshiro scoffed, lifting his zanpaku-to high above his head. "Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyourin—"

"Hey! He's mine!"

That voice. He knew that voice. Toshiro fought his temper as he turned just in time to see a flash of orange and black running by him.

"You ugly bastard! I'll teach you guys to show up here!"

Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper, slashed his massive sword right through the hollow as if its body had been made out of butter. The thing's pained cries echoed out into the air before it disappeared into a thousand points of light, destined for the gates of the Soul Society. Toshiro grumbled to himself and dropped Hyourinmaru back into its sheath. That battle had been short-lived.

"I didn't even sense your spiritual pressure until a few seconds ago. What are you doin' here, Toshiro?"

Questions. Always with the questions and the lack of respect. The icy captain bit his tongue in an attempt to fight off the words that he wanted to say.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you, Kurosaki, and what I'm doing here is none of your business. I might as well ask you the same thing."

Ichigo laughed and gestured behind him.

"You're in Karakura, you idiot! This is my domain. What, does old man Yama not think that I can handle myself now?"

"You have no right to address the head captain in that manner!" Toshiro's temper flared. "I assure you that's not the case. I'm here of my own accord."

"Oh, so you're running away? Nice job! I'm sure they're gonna drag you back kicking and screaming."

Idiot! Toshiro could feel his blood pressure rising by the second. Kurosaki could be absolutely infuriating.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. Captain Ukitake let me know you were coming yesterday. I'm your welcoming party." Ichigo grinned. Toshiro grimaced. "Oh, chill out! You're here to relax, anyway, aren't you? Ukitake said he was worried."

"That's Juushiro for you." The captain rubbed his temples. "Why are you really here, Kurosaki? To irritate me?"

"Like I said, I'm your welcoming party. Captain Ukitake wanted to make sure that you would be okay here, so he told me to meet up with you as soon as I could. It just so happened that this hollow happened to appear, so I found you sooner than I thought I would."

Damn that hollow. Damn it to hell.

"Well, thank you for the greeting, but I really should be going."

Toshiro turned and walked over beside the gigai that he had been using, which was now discarded under a tree. The doll came back to life as Toshiro forced his soul back into its inanimate limbs and unthinking mind. The effect was dizzying; he stumbled briefly, but managed to gain his footing.

He turned, but Kurosaki was behind him.

"All right, fine, here it is." The teen's arms were crossed over his chest. Toshiro didn't appreciate the indignant stance. "You don't have anywhere to stay here in the world of the living. You can't stay out on the streets and I know that you don't have any money."

Eyes as cold as ice stared up at the substitute soul reaper. Ichigo pretended not to notice, though, and continued on with his soliloquy.

"I know you don't mind the cold or the outdoors or whatever – I mean, Hyourinmaru is your zanpaku-to – but someone will mistake you for a little kid. It's not safe. And really, Toshiro, you do look like a grade-schooler at first glance."

"Why in hell should I stay with you?"

"Because you have no one else? Unless you want to go and stay with Urahara."

The white-haired man suppressed a shudder. Kisuke Urahara was a fine man, very commendable, but there was something about the twelfth-division ex-captain that unnerved him. Not to mention that he was eccentric and unpredictable. Toshiro really didn't want to know what happened behind the doors of that shop.

So there were two options: stay with Kurosaki, or head straight back to the Soul Society. Neither sounded too appealing; the smaller man swallowed the bile that was rising at the back of his throat. He didn't want his vacation to be cut short so soon, and there was no way that he could relax when he was rooming with Kurosaki who – besides being completely irrational – couldn't control his spiritual pressure. How would they detect any threats?

What other options did he have?

Reluctantly, Toshiro softened his gaze. It wasn't warm or inviting by any stretch of the mind, but it wasn't a stare that threatened death. Ichigo grinned like an idiot.

"I take it you're coming with me?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

The substitute laughed, turned in the direction of the buildings that loomed in the distance, and started walking. Toshiro took one last look at the beautiful snow-covered park, the trees that stretched toward the sun, the peace that he had had for all of a few minutes…and turned his back on it.

He would abandon his scenery of choice for asphalt and buildings that cut into the landscape like a harsh scar. The captain groaned as he stepped through the gates of Karakura Town.

The sign above his head read "WELCOME!" in bold red letters, but he didn't see it. The little voice inside his mind was screaming at him to turn around, and he was about to listen.

But Kurosaki was waiting. His orange hair glowed like fire against the white of the snow.

His snow.