Over the years he had come to realize how seldom he found the time to be alone. Looking back on the days at the Soul Reaper University, Hitsugaya established that the thoughts he had had were utterly incomprehensibly false. Oh, once I'm a Captain, my life will be complete. No work, just kicking back, letting my subordinates do all the grunt duties. Ha-ha! Can't wait! Yeah, right, he told his past self, the one whose childish voice ran through his head now. If anything, he did more work than his subordinates, although with Matsumoto as his lieutenant, it was easy to see why. The only goal she strived for was to look good in a cut strap halter top and try to get away with doing the least amount of actual work as possible. What a great example for the future generation of soul reapers, Matsumoto!
But now, as he stood there, alone in the middle of Seireitei, he actually missed everyone's company. That, and the fact he admitted it to himself, made him feel anxious and worried for the first time since he became a Captain.
"Damn, where is everyone?!" Hitsugaya yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. The sun was high in the sky now, and although the breeze was cool, he had started to sweat and went back inside. Here it was dark, and Hitsugaya's eyes dilated to take in as much light as possible.
"Hello? Konnichiwa?" he asked, but got no response in return. That was as previously predicted though. It was pretty obvious that he was the only one here; the only one in Seireitei. But why? Is it possible that they went to the Real World?
"Tei zousanai, Katukai!" A long, thin vine wrapped its way through the cracks along the wall and branched out to where Hitsugaya was standing. He eyed it cautiously, hand on the handle of Hyorinmaru.
"Who's there?" he asked, unsheathing his zanpakuto. The vine was growing thicker and sprouting thinner vines while he waited for its wielder to appear. But he couldn't wait any longer. He raised his sword high above his head, getting ready to bring it down on the vine.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice said from up in the rafters. A slender woman, black hair tied back in short braids leapt down, landing silently on the wooden floor. "Katukai released a toxin fumes when cut. They'd kill you in seconds." Her kimono was unmistakable; black with a white belt; a Soul Reaper.
Hitsugaya lowered his sword, not taking her word lightly, no matter how much he knew he couldn't trust it."Who are you? What squad are you from?"
She chuckled, flipping her hair back. "I'm not in any squad, at least not from your time."
What the hell was she talking about?
"My-time?" he asked, still holding his zanpakuto tightly. He glared at her warily. He didn't like the look she was giving him. It was way too much like Matsumoto's when she skipped out on her daily paperwork and tried to make up an excuse for it.
"Well of course. You can't hardly expect to believe that I'm from this century, can you? That's just pathetic… Speaking of which, Hyouga failed to mention how short people from this time are. I'm glad there must have been some kind of height increase between now and my time," she replied, replying to Hitsugaya.
His brow furrowed, eyes staring heatedly at her own.
"Haha, so you can't stand insults to your height, huh? Interesting," she mused, the vine she called out earlier winding its way around her forearm. She relaxed against the wall opposite Hitsugaya, bringing her knee up to her chest.
"Don't underestimate me! You never know when I might attack," Hitsugaya said, watching her laid back stance with surprise.
But she only smiled. "You won't attack me. At least not until you know exactly if I'm a threat or not." He knew she was right and glanced exasperated away.
"So are you a threat?" he inquired, folding his arms over his chest stubbornly.
At that, she grinned widely.