"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Rukia blurted, startled. She hadn't sensed his reiatsu coming any closer, but then he had probably concealed it in order to sneak up on the still-unidentified being that called himself Jack Frost. And his companion that he called the "Easter Bunny" too, apparently. For when the boy had seen the captain approaching, he'd thrown himself to the side to avoid the blade. What's more, he'd seemed like he tackled his invisible friend out of the way. Rukia may have tried to brush it aside as eccentric, or even insane, behavior, but when he'd landed, he didn't hit the ground. For just a moment, he hovered over the asphalt, not like he'd been flying before, but nonmoving, as if he really had landed on top of the "Easter Bunny" that he'd forced aside.

But what on earth is an Easter Bunny?! And was it fuzzy and cute?

She shook her head to try and focus.

"What's going on here, Kuchiki-san? Why haven't you taken care of this?" The diminutive captain never took his gaze off of the other white-haired boy, but Rukia could feel the displeasure aimed at herself.

"I-I haven't determined if he's part of the arrancar movement or not!" Honestly, he didn't have a visible hollow hole, no discernible mask, and except for that staff he was carrying, he didn't seem to have a zanpakutou-

It's the staff

A voice, whispered like a chill touch across her cheek. Startled, Rukia stared down at her zanpakutou. "Sode no Shiraiyuki?" Then she stared even harder at the boy. Or more specifically, his staff.

"He's been manipulating the weather!" Hitsugaya-taicho snapped, shocking Rukia. "Are you telling me you haven't noticed?"

That's right, it's much too late in the year for there to be snow, isn't it? And the captain is the only one with a zanpakutou powerful enough to control the weather, isn't he?

"B-but that's-" the boy- Jack Frost -sputtered. "That's just what I do! What does it have to do with anything?"

The captain narrowed his eyes, assessing him, but Rukia was distracted, staring at her own zanpakutou with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Slowly, she stepped toward Jack, her blade extended before her. He stepped backwards, but did not flee. He was tensed and wary, but her face was not one that showed she was about to attack. She was a straightforward person, he could tell that already, but he was still wary. His chest did still hurt, after all, even though it had stopped bleeding. She moved carefully, making it clear that she wasn't going to hurt him, as she held Sode no Shiraiyuki outwards.

At this point she was overreaching herself, her feet poorly positioned that if the boy suddenly attacked, she would be left vulnerable insofar as Hitsugaya-taichou would have to save her. But still she reached and touched her blade, the blunt back edge of it, to the twisted wooden staff. An instant before contact, the boy flinched away, but the zanpakutou, like a magnet, pulled forward and connected with it.

Rukia really had no idea what to expect, if she was really expecting anything, so the brief spark of ice and blue light didn't really surprise her. When she drew back Sode no Shiraiyuki, though, she saw a delicate, swirling crystalline pattern on the blade before it faded. Jack Frost, for his part, looked much more surprised, his clear blue eyes wide and innocent.

"You...your sword," he stuttered. "How did...it's a she...she has a long name!"

"She told you her name?" both shinigami demanded, practically scandalized. Zanpakutou do not share their names so freely; once they've deemed their wielder worthy and share it with their partner, zanpakutou have no need or desire to tell anyone else. But the name of a zanpakutou holds their power.

But Jack just nodded. "I didn't know that your sword could talk-" here, he turned to that invisible, undetectable presence of the Easter Bunny. "Yeah, she spoke to me! It was...well, weirder things have happened." He paused. "Tell that to North's belly. And the teeth." Rukia honestly didn't know if she should feel insulted (again, though he really hadn't meant it the first couple of times), curious, or honestly concerned for the boy's mental health. Then Jack turned back to stare at the blade in her hand. "I mean I...felt connected, but I had no idea why." His expression brightened and he whirled to look at Hitsugaya-taichou, lifting in the air slightly in his excitement. "Does yours have a name too?" Eyebrows furrowed, he stared at the blade, looking like he was concentrating. "But it feels different...it's not the same as her, as Sode no Shiraiyuki."

Well, it was one thing for the boy to claim she had told him her name, but proving it so casually, as if it weren't such an astonishing occurrence, the captain truly didn't know what to make of him. This was his first encounter with the boy's interaction with his invisible friend, and he was clearly leaning on the side that favored a cranial imbalance, but insanity had no explanation for his interaction with the shinigami blades. Hyourinmaru did in fact feel a pull towards the boy, though perhaps not quite so inclined to share his name as Kuchiki's blade had been.

Patience wearing thin, Hitsugaya tightened his grip on his sword and said slowly and clearly, "You will tell me who and what you are. Right. Now."

The boy looked at him with wide, innocent eyes that were a truer shade of blue than his own, which were more turquoise, and said, "Well, I'm Jack Frost and I'm..." he glanced to the side, as if seeking reassurance from a parked car. When he looked back, his eyes were firm and his smile confidant. "I'm a Guardian."

"You're a what?"

AN: So you guys have been clamoring for a new chapter and here I finally deliver! My chapters seem to be getting shorter and shorter, though. But this just seemed like a good/funny place to stop! I don't anticipate this fic lasting much longer. One chapter of material is left in my head, is all. Two, tops, but really don't think I can make it stretch that far. I pretty much need to bring in one specific character, though a few more may drop in for funsies.

This chapter kind of took shape out from under me. I told the characters a pretty vague, loose outline as to where I want to go with this before I finish, and then they've been improvising the stuff in the middle. Especially Rukia, that brat. XD Seriously, that bit with touching her zanpakutou to Jack's staff pretty much came out of left field. I'm sorry if it felt that way to you too, but I also felt that continued conversation with Hitsugaya would go noplace useful pretty quick. I mean sure, we could have a redundant lengthy discussion about the redundant wherein we repeat everything at least twice, possibly giving the discussion a reason in the way of the name of a technique in another language, or burst into epic city-freezing battle, in keeping with Bleach's style of plot progression, but neither felt right to me. And I really only speak one language. XD Then Sode no Shiraiyuki took things into her own hands.