I'm back! And here with a new chapter!

Roespetals: thanks for being my first reviewer! Glad you like it!

Kalebxdd: the chapter was short because that was the prologue, silly! But glad you like.

Disclaimer: If I did own bleach, Toshiro would be in Ichigo's place, and Ichigo would be in Toshiro's place.

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Chapter 2

Dealing with the pain

I looked up at Ranesi-kun with tears in my eyes. How? How could Genachi-kun, my hero and father, be killed by a simple Hollow? He was a lieutenant, he was strong! How could this be true?

"Ranesi-kun, how could Genachi-kun have been killed by one Hollow? He's the lieutenant! Why didn't he have backup?"

"Look Toshiro, Lieutenant Hitsugaya had told us that he could handle the Hollow by himself, and insisted that he needed no help. So when his distress call came in, it was a surprise to everyone. We tried to get there as fast as we could, but by the time help arrived, Lieutenant Hitsugaya was dead and there were three giant Hollows to be dealt with. Apparently, the one giant Hollow had called for backup, and Lieutenant Hitsugaya was over-whelmed…."

I didn't listen to anything else that Ranesi-kun said. I was overwhelmed with emotion. Tears were working their way down my cheek, and I was sobbing. I couldn't take it anymore. Without even saying a word, I ran for the back door, pushing my way through everyone, and ran out into the street, not even stopping to look back. I continued running for what seemed like an eternity. I hadn't even realized that my wooden sword, Shirachi, was still strapped to my back. All that mattered was that my teacher, and father, Genachi-kun, was dead. I would never see him again.

I was so lost in thought, I failed to realize that someone was standing in front of me on the road. I ran full-force into the boy, knocking myself backwards in the process. I didn't even bother to see if the boy was ok. I was too lost in my sobs to care.

And in the middle of my crying fit, I heard a voice speaking to me.

"Hey Hitsugaya, you should be more careful to watch where you're going. You're lucky it was only me that you ran into!"

I looked up into the face of my best friend in the world, Renji Abari. He was wearing his long red hair up in a ponytail as always, and he had on a simple tank-top and shorts outfit. He even had his cocky grin plastered on his face, as usual.

Renji looked down at me and realized that I was crying. The smile on his face faltered. He usually never saw me cry. I was always tough, not really showing if I was sad or upset. It started him.

"Hey man, why are you crying? I'm not mad at you, and you didn't hit me even remotely hard enough for it to hurt. What's up?"

"My dad…was killed…by a Hollow!"

"What? How could Lieutenant Genachi have been killed by a Hollow? He was much stronger than that!"

"I don't know. But Ranesi-kun said it herself. Genachi-kun's dead, and I'll never see him again."

"Man, that's hard to deal with."

"I know. But the thing is, how can I train without Genachi-kun teaching me? I cant learn anything new without him."

"Look, Hitsugaya, I know one thing, and that is that you would never let something like this get in the way of your training, now would you?"

"But Renji, I cant learn anything new…."

"Yes you can, Hitsugaya. You seem to forget that Momo is in the Soul Reaper Academy. She isn't going there to learn how to be a girl, is she? No! She is going to learn sword moves and demon magic! You are way smarter than that, Hitsugaya!"

I looked up at Renji. All I was trying to do was be sad about the situation and grieve. But that didn't sit too well with Renji. Instead of sharing my sorrow, he was giving me a way to deal with it. I didn't know what to say to him other than this.

"Renji, if I have Momo train me, will you train with me too? I mean, best friends do everything together, right? So shouldn't we try to achieve the same dream together?"

He gave it a thought, before he answered me with a smile.

"Sure Hitsugaya. Why don't we meet tomorrow, nine o'clock, at my place? We can start there."

"Sounds good Renji. And do me a favor, would you?"

"What's that?"

"Stop calling me Hitsugaya! Call me Toshiro, ok?"

"Ok…Hitsugaya."

"RENJI!"

So, what did you think? And how about a thumbs up for Renji, huh? Leave me a review if you have any questions, comments, or criticism.

~Misha :D