Chapter 2

Toshiro strolled around with his hands in his pockets, the wind blowing his tussled white hair. He'd been looking in shop windows all afternoon, nothing had appealed to him yet. Matsumoto had said something about a key, but he wasn't really going to get a stupid house key or something.

He kept looking casually and came across a jewellery shop. He stopped and looked in the window. There were many things that glistened and sparkled silver and gold, the occasional colour glinting off of gems. He saw necklaces and bracelets and rings of all kind and thought they might have what he was looking for.

He was about to walk in but felt slightly irritated to see the shop so full. He sighed and thought to himself 'It's for Momo.' Reassured he walked into the shop and closed the door behind him.

He had to squint at first in the light, but his aquamarine eyes soon adjusted. The store itself was very bright with lights reflecting off of all the jewellery. He started to his left where it was less crowed and started looking.

He leaned over to look at a bracelet but thought it too plain. He kept moving around and around the shop until he had only two sections left. He sighed in disappointment but looked at them anyway. He leaned over to look closely as he was growing tired and blinked a couple of times before seeing it. The perfect thing he was looking for.

Hanging in the centre of the unit was a shining sterling silver key hanging on a beautiful chain. It had swirling metal work and a very small aquamarine crystal implanted in the centre of it. He lifted it up to feel it. The metal was smooth to the touch and very light weight as well. It was the one.

He smiled and nodded at the necklace and then turned around. His smile dropped. There were at least seventeen people in the queue. His mouth twitched, but he sighed and queued never-the-less. Whilst he queued he thought how he might show Momo the gift. Would he gift wrap it, or would he just put it on her? Or would she be uncomfortable with that? He sighed to himself and took another step forward. This queue was taking forever.

Another fifteen minutes later he was second and waiting for the next person to leave and pay.

"Next please!" the woman at the till called.

'Finally' he thought to himself. He placed the necklace on the table and asked for it gift wrapped. But as the woman went to the back to get the paper, he heard his soul pager beeping in his pocket. He couldn't believe it. Really? Now? Of all times! He sighed and waited for the woman to wrap it anyway, trying to ignore it, hoping that the substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki was nearby.

The woman passed him the gift in a bag as he passed over the correct change. She looked slightly worried.

"Uh, sir? Aren't you going to get that?" she gestured to his pocket but he just shrugged.

"It can wait." And walked out the store.

As soon as he was outside he ran to the nearest clear spot and changed into a soul reaper leaving his mod soul behind.

"Stay hidden, and don't lose that." He told it.

"Yes sir." He said curtly.

And with that Toshiro took off into the sky to find the hollow, using his soul pager to find it. He was surprised to see it was near Ichigo's house and so flash-stepped over there.

It was very quiet outside his house, and he couldn't sense the hollow anywhere. Then he heard a cry; the cry of a hollow. He turned around to see it only inches away from him. He wasn't ready. He went to grab Hyorinmaru but was cut short when it's hand slammed into his chest. He was caught off guard. It came at him again, it was about to cry again when it was cut short by-

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

The hollow's skull head was sliced in two with a clean shot from Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou. It evaporated into blue dust where it would go to Hueco Mundo in peace. Followed by the dust was Ichigo standing in his soul reaper uniform with his zanpakto slung over his shoulder.

"Toshiro, is everything ok?" Ichigo asked.

Irritation stung him "It's Hitsugaya-taicho, not Toshiro. And no, nothing is wrong. Why?"

Ichigo looked shocked and said "Then why are you here? You always come here if it's important."

'It is important' Toshiro thought to himself. "I'm here on a personal visit. A day off."

Ichigo smiled "Oh I see. Finally finished all your paper work then, huh? Well I would stick around but I gotta go. I was just meant to be picking up the groceries, but it seems that I'll have to go back and get some more" they both smiled lightly "Bye then, tell everyone I said hi," and he left.

Toshiro smiled to himself and went back to the mod soul, changed back into his gegai and opened the senkaimon to return back to Soul Society.