Chapter 10: Venture

It was unsettling to watch the childlike spirit cry in silence like that. It was almost frighting in its unnaturalness. From his position by the open door where he had been through the entire confrontation, Watanuki couldn't see Taicho's (Hitsugaya-taicho's) face, but from the way the kid's shoulders were shuddering it wasn't hard to guess. And there was no way that laughter had any place here.

The tears stopped as quickly as they had come, though and the pale spirit was pulling himself out of Matsumoto-fukutaicho's arms. She let him go reluctantly, wiping the tears off of her own cheeks. "I'm glad you're alright," she said.

"Me too," Renji said, reminding the other vice-captain that the rest of the world still existed. "But- and I really, really hate to kill the mood- what do we do now? We've got Hitsugaya-taicho, but he can't remember you. Or anything about himself, apparently. How are we going to get his memories back?"

"I think I can help there." Yuuko-san made her entrance, gliding though the open sliding door in a red kimono with a blue obi decorated with all the phases of the moon, her hair held up with a circular white ornament with what looked like red icicles dangling from it.

"You!" Matsumoto rounded on the witch. "You lying bitch! You had Taicho here the whole damn time, and you never said anything!" She gripped the hilt of her sword, ready to draw when Hitsugaya-taicho grabbed the edge of her sleeve.

"Don't." He said bluntly. "Let her explain herself."

The sorceress smiled at the diminutive figure. "Thank you, Taicho. This does you credit." His frown deepened. "But, I do have an explanation. Well, less an explanation and more of a wish."

Matsumoto's hand didn't leave the sword, but her grip had relaxed, allowing blood to flow back into once-white knuckles. Hitsugaya's hand still gripped her sleeve, however. "Oh? Whose wish?" she asked.

"Hitsugaya-taicho's, although it is not so much a wish as payment for services rendered," Yuuko explained. "You see, he has been working in my shop for a few weeks, and he has accumulated some credit to his name."

"Are you going to give him back his memories?" Ichigo asked.

"To do that, he would have to pay more than he had, or could ever accumulate by working here. Hitsugaya-san has been stripped of himself. Restoring that would cost the ultimate price, especially for a shinigami. And that is a price I could not accept. No," she continued, "Instead, I am going to tell you how Hitsugaya-san can regain himself."

"And how can 'Hitsugaya-san' do that?" Taicho asked in a scathing tone, annoyed at being spoken over.

"You need to find your zanpakuto again," Yuuko informed him. "Regain that, and you will regain your memories. You must do this alone. However, the others may come along, and I will send Watanuki-kun to guide you."

"What?" Watanuki's startled voice echoed through the room, bolstered into everyone's notice by the slightly panicked edge.

Watanuki had quickly retreated into the safety of the kitchen while Yuuko-san spelled out how much help Matsumoto-san was allowed to give, knowing that Yuuko-san's customers didn't come back here. True, Yuuko-san was making him lead the way to that creepy dragon again, however in the kitchen he could take refuge in the mundane details of the room. Cleaning the dishes and cups, boiling water for more tea, and keeping an eye on the different snacks and dinner preparations drove out the glaring fact that soon he would be soon thrown to the see-through wolves.

He heard the sound of the door sliding open and turned, ready to shoo Maru, Moro or Yuuko-san out of the kitchen while he was working, but almost dropped the ladle he was holding when he saw the figure filling the doorway.

"Those two girls are really weird," Kurosaki Ichigo said, looking about as happy as Watanuki at the fact he was there. "They're like walkie-talkies for that one lady."

"You mean Yuuko-san?" Watanuki offered nervously, hoping that the fact Yuuko-san had let the guy though her house into the kitchen he wasn't going to be devoured.

"Yeah. Her. She said I could talk to you about this."

There was a frightened-rabbit silence with Ichigo looking at the sink and Watanuki staring at the door. (Not directly at the guy, in case that was a mistake. Even though he looked human, he was a shinigami who had a murderous spirit hissing in his ear. Not upsetting him was a good way to stay alive.) It didn't help matters that Ichigo had effectively trapped Watanuki in the kitchen and, thanks to the gleeful spirit, everyone knew.

After a few impossibly long moments of deafening silence broken only by the gleeful pleadings of the negative exposure Ichigo, the shinigami Ichigo said, "You can hear it, can't you?"

"Um?" It wasn't a real word, but Watanuki was too busy preventing the fight-or-flight response to really talk.

"The Hollow. You can see him too, right?"

"Um, the spirit behind you that's you only white?"

"Yeah."

"I can see him," Watanuki confirmed cautiously. "And hear him."

Ichigo sighed and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Ok, listen. I need your help. Um. Could you not talk about the Hollow? Just, don't say anything?" Ichigo wasn't the best at reading faces, but even he could tell that that request did not sit well with the person in front of him.

"Why?"

"Because, it's kind of illegal, and I have no idea what they'd do to me. Banishing me wouldn't really work, because I live in the Real World, but I'm pretty sure they'd try to do something," Ichigo said, trying to get his point across with tact while trying not to ramble. This was harder than it looked. Usually, he was the one getting explained at. "I won't let him take over, so he won't hurt you. Just... don't mention him? There's a war coming up, and I want to help. I won't be able to do that if they've executed me. And if they manage to banish me outside of Karakura Town, I won't be able to protect my family."

Watanuki contemplated the plea silently. He sounded sincere, and there was the fact that he'd managed to pass though the kekkai. The spirit still made him want to bolt, though. However, the reasons Ichigo had were good ones. Watanuki's parents had died long ago, but he still knew that if they were alive he'd want to protect them. He knew that if he had to go to war to protect Himawari-chan, he would. Not being able to... But, one thing bothered him. "Don't you trust Matsumoto-san and Abarai-san?"

At this, Ichigo looked guilty. "I do, but... this whole thing is weird, and messy and complicated. I know I can trust Renji, but I haven't known Ran-san for very long. Yeah, I've been here looking for Hitsugaya-taicho with her for like three weeks, but she's been totally focused on finding her captain. Nothing else. It's hard to get to know her like that."

"I see." There wasn't much Watanuki could say after that.

"So," Ichigo said after a moment, "could you just not mention this to anyone?"

Watanuki nodded, slightly reluctantly. "I guess. Now, if you're done, will you get out of the kitchen?"

After the two little girls with strange hair had taken Ichigo out into the hall, Matsumoto turned to Yuuko and asked, "So, Hyorinmaru is guarding Hitsugaya-taicho's memories or something?"

"Not precisely," Yuuko answered. "However, Hitsugaya-san's memories are bound to his zanpakuto."

The newly-renamed Hitsugaya frowned. He was being talked over again. He did not like this at all. It felt not only as though he were being treated as a child, but it also gave him the uncomfortable feeling that he just wasn't there anymore. Not remembering who he was these weeks (the only ones he could remember) had left him feeling lost and faded, like he was going to vanish at any time. Just disappear into thin air. And as the weeks went by and that hole in being seemed to get larger and larger, the feeling persisted, even invading his dreams during the frequent naps he took in order to continue functioning.

Now some people had shown up claiming they knew him and had been searching for him, and it seemed that Yuuko-san had known all along who he was- or at least how he could regain his identity, and he was still being ignored and spoken over. He felt like an emptying sink with water swirling away down the drain, steadily becoming less and less until nothing was there. The prospect of becoming a hollow nothing frightened him, and he lashed out, hoping to be noticed.

"Hey!" he snapped. "Stop talking over me! I'm right. Here. And I have a few questions."

Matsumoto, or whatever her name was, blushed and glanced away. His former landlady raised an elegant eyebrow and said, "Oh? And what are these questions?"

"They're not for you," he said bluntly. "You can't charge me for them." She smirked. He ignored it and turned to the spirits who claimed to know him, folding his arms. "Alright. First question: What. The hell. Is my name?" Regaining his memories was an important thing, however his time at the shop had taught him that names were also important. With one, you could apparently lay a hold on a person's soul, and that was exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to grab his own soul, keep it fixed in reality and keep it from fading away. Keep it from the hollowness that threatened.

The red haired man looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. Matsumoto bowed. "I apologize, Hitsugaya-taicho. I was lax in my duties, and I have neglected you. Your name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the Tenth Division, of the Gotei 13." She rose from her bow tugging on the ends of her scarf in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Taicho. I forgot that you didn't even know your own name." She looked like she almost wanted to cry again.

"Thank you," Hitsugaya Toshiro said. It was a good name, he decided, and he felt more solid already. "My next question is: who is Hyorinmaru, and what is a zanpakuto?" It was technically two questions, but it counted, dammit. Especially since he was a captain, and they were both vice-captains. Or so it seemed.

That question seemed to shock them. Both Matsumoto and Renji started. "Geez," Renji muttered, "I know he can't remember his name, but this is just..."

"This is what?" snapped Toshiro.

"A zanpakuto is a reflection of a shinigami's soul," Matsumoto explained. "You can't even remember the name of yours; that's... not good, Taicho."

Toshiro snarled. "What about this situation isn't 'not good'?" he demanded. For every step forward he took two steps back, it seemed. He'd gotten his name back, only to find out that he was in deeper trouble than he realized. There were people here who knew him, but they couldn't help, not really. Yuuko had said as much. And he didn't want people who cared about him around when he fell.

Matsumoto looked contrite. "I know, Captain." There wasn't much more she could say.

"I suppose actually being able to do something about your amnesia isn't a good thing, either, then," Yuuko mused out loud. She looked nonchalant, sipping tea and looking into middle distance, but underneath that serene facade, Toshiro suspected that the wish broker was enjoying this.

Toshiro also suspected that is was good that he would probably be leaving one way or the other now, since he was obviously spending way too much time listening to Watanuki's rants.

"It might be if we were doing anything," he retorted. "But we're not. If I have to find my zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru, I need to know what it looks like. And I don't. 'Reflection of your soul' isn't a good description."

"All the zanpakuto take the form of blades when they're sealed," Yuuko said, still feigning disinterest.

Matsumoto nodded. "She's right. This," she said, as she picked up her sheathed sword off the floor, "Is Haineko, my zanpakuto."

"Hyorinmaru is like that, only longer and blue," Renji put in.

"And this," Matsumoto tapped the three point hand guard that looked almost like a cat's head, "Is a four-pointed star."

"I see." And strangely, he could, in a hazy, half-dream way- taller than he was, and reassuringly cold- though he really didn't understand.

"Wonderful," Yuuko said, clapping her hands together. "And here comes Kurosaki-kun! Is Watanuki-kun almost done with the snacks?" she asked as the grumpy-looking shinigami entered the room.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

Renji tried to figure out what was going on in his friend's head. The kid seemed much more relaxed after his trip to the kitchens, but he was also strangely subdued. He wished he had more time to figure out what was going on with him, but there just wasn't enough time. Ultimately, they were on a deadline. They couldn't stay here, and that was the sad truth. Even if they had to leave Hitsugaya-taicho behind, they had to be back before the war started. They all knew it, especially Rangiku-san. If they had had more time, she might also have picked up on Ichigo's strange melancholy, but all her attention was focused exclusively on her captain. Renji had grown accustomed to looking after the small search party; that was why he had picked up on Ichigo's odd mood, even if he couldn't really do anything about it.

"Did you guys figure out what Toshiro has to do, yet?" he asked. "I mean, more than before."

"No," Hitsugaya said dryly, "although we have established that I know less than I should about zanpakuto."

Ichigo blinked as he put that together, taken aback by the lack of the usual reprimand of 'It's 'Hitsugaya-taicho!'. Then he hissed through his teeth. "Rough," he said in sympathy.

"Apparently," Hitsugaya said in the same dry tone. "I can't remember."

Yuuko broke the tension that had been creeping up by saying, "As soon as Watanuki-kun comes back with the snacks, you can leave."

"Why can't I just get Watanuki and go?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"Because I need something to eat to keep my strength up!" she cooed.

The white haired shinigami sighed. He didn't want to wait, but he hoped that since he had waited almost a month to get his memories back a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

Watanuki shivered. They were in the forest, yet again, and yet again, it was too cold, and getting colder. The pressure that made it hard to breathe was also increasing, this time it seemed faster than before. He assumed it had something to do with the white spirit, the Hollow that somehow was Kurosaki's.

The group walked in somber silence as the walked deeper into the woods. It had been this way since they had left the shop, Yuuko-san trilling a cheerful goodbye, talking about watching out for webs.

They marched on until Watanuki had to stop. He wanted to go on further, but he knew that he would pass out, and he had to point Taicho- er, Hitsugaya-taicho in the direction of the dragon. "It's that way," he said, gesturing towards the large ice dragon that was looking very intently at their group. Now that Watanuki knew what it was, and more importantly, that it wasn't interested in him, he was able to feel more comfortable with the spirit.

Taicho nodded and started off in that direction immediately, not looking back to see if anyone was following him.

Not that they were. The three shinigami that stayed behind watched intently as their child-sized captain disappeared into the woods, shifting nervously as they did so. Before they had been allowed out the door, Yuuko-san had reminding them at least three times that they were not, under any circumstances, to follow Hitsugaya.

Watanuki could tell that all three hated that idea. He did too. He might not have really liked the grumpy, pint-sized spirit, but they had been allies in keeping Yuuko-san relatively sober, and he knew that he would miss the help once it was gone.

"Are you sure we can't go with him?" Kurosaki asked.

"Positive," Watanuki sighed. "If Yuuko-san stresses something that much, you had better listen."

It was colder here, but that was ok. It was more than ok, actually. The cold enveloped him in a sense of welcome-friend-home Though he didn't understand it, he knew on some instinctual level that this cold wouldn't hurt him.

He tracked the cold to a thicket of trees and bushes, the frost covered grass crackling beneath his feet. He stopped at the edge of the thicket. Somehow he could tell that there was something there. There were spiderwebs on the trees, he noted. A lot of them.

Something moved, high above his head. A voice came from inside the thicket. "Oh, it seems that we have company." A woman's voice. As if in response, he could feel a low rumbling growl in his head. Hitsugaya walked into the thicket, pushing through web and branches.

The center of this thicket was empty of vegetation other than grass, but it was covered in still more webs, larger and more numerous than he had ever dreamed possible.

And hanging in the center was a long katana.

Two thick strands of web suspended the sword about a meter off the ground. Still more web cocooned the sheath of the sword, and the handle. However, the points of the hand guard were still visible.

Hyorinmaru?

There was another rumble in his head, affirmative, somehow.

Toshiro walked forward towards what was his. As he laid his hand on the hilt, a person descended from the canopy, tutting.

"I really can't have that," she said. The same voice as before, but now Toshiro could put a face to the voice. Heavy-lidded eyes with long thick lashes stared back at him as the woman somehow stood on a thick strand of spiderweb, long blonde hair swinging to the side as she tilted her head. "No, even if you are a child, I can't have that. Or rather, you can't."

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you mean?"

"Me? I am called Jorogumo by some. You can call me that as well. And I'm afraid that I have to stop you from getting that sword," she said. It was like she was trying to enjoy this. Toshiro heard amusement in her voice, but most of it seemed false- forced.

He frowned. "Why? That's my sword."

"Hm... what should I tell you?" Jorogumo mused, tapping her chin with a finger.

"The truth."

"In that case... I am paying somebody back. One good turn deserves another."

"Who?" What enemies did he have that he couldn't remember? That caused this amnesia? Who wanted him out of the way so badly?

Jorogumo smiled, a sly smile that spoke of secrets and misguiding silk. "A name wouldn't mean anything to you, would it? He's an ambitious man, though. Resourceful, too. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to find out how to... get me on his side." She paused. "I like that resourcefulness."

Toshiro sure as hell didn't. He had hated this empty feeling that ate at his soul, and the incessant loneliness that had plagued him without reason.

Now, though, he had his answer. He knew what he had to do, what- who he had to find, and nothing was going to get in his way. Especially not some overgrown spider.

Anger spiked, and in his head the dragon roared rage and defiance. Ice grew in jagged lines along the silk strands. Toshiro jerked the katana towards himself and the web that had kept it suspended shattered.

"Oh dear," Jorogumo murmured, not looking very distressed. "Ice and spider web do not go well together." She leaned forward, and suddenly she was a breath away from Toshiro. "This I like," she told him, smiling. He jerked back, instinctively swinging the sheathed katana at her, however the angle was awkward, and she grabbed the sheathed blade easily, wrenching it from his grasp.

"No!"

She rose up away from him on her strand. "Really, boys should be more careful of their toys," she told him, swinging the sword on a new string of web.

He growled at her, snatching at what was, essentially, his soul; or part of it. Ice erupted along that strand as well. Momentum shattered the web, and the sword fell to the ground. Toshiro picked it up, ice covering the cocooning web along the blade. It shattered at his touch.

Drawing the sword- Hyorinmaru- he faced the spirit that was opposing him. He hadn't felt this energetic in weeks. A familiar presence stirred in his mind.

Toshiro

Hyorinmaru

No other greeting was necessary. They knew each other, though Toshiro wasn't exactly sure how yet, but he knew the other in his mind, and embraced it.

"Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru!" he yelled, and ice exploded in the clearing, coating everything as memory rushed back. He was Hitsugaya Toshiro, the genius captain of the tenth division, youngest captain to ever hold the rank. He remembered Matsumoto, Abarai, Kurosaki, and Momo and Grandmother. And the war, and bankai, and- and- everything.

It was disorientating and dizzying, but also stabilizing at the same time. He knew who he was, knew what he was, where he was going and where he had come from. The past was no longer a haze, it was filled with sad, horrible and wonderful things. It was beautiful.

Jorogumo stood on her thread, watching the devastation serenely. "My, my, my. Ice and spider wed really do go ill together." Ice crackled along the webs as they shattered, one by one filling the clearing with falling ice.

"Well?" he demanded. "Aren't you going to try and stop me?"

She looked at him, as if just noticing he was there. "Hm? No, I have too much to do."

"Aren't you fulfilling a debt?"

"I was told to hide your identity and stop you from reclaiming it. I was never told how many times I had to do that." Indifference colored her voice as she observed the effect ice had on her precious webs.

Hitsugaya laughed out loud at that. Cunning lady, cunning spirit. She had found quite an effective loophole. He sheathed Hyorinmaru and walked out of the frosted clearing.

AN: Hello to my dear readers! Thank you for being so patient with me through this whole thing. I really appreciate it. I also appreciate all the wonderful reviews you gave me!

I hope that bit with Ichigo and Watanuki cleared up any ooc-ness that may have been going on. If it increased ooc-ness, somebody needs to tell me, because I seriously need to learn how to write those characters better.

The bit about names is actually xxxHolic cannon, from the first chapter. Yuuko comes across really, really creepy right about then. XD

Jorogumo was fun to write. I seriously love her outlook on life. Her webs are burning around her and she says 'Oh dear, foxfire and webs don't go well together.' On one hand, that lack of reaction cracks me up. On the other, it just shows how in control she thinks she is if having everything burn down around her is some kind of 'minor inconvenience.' Also, her 'I like this/I don't like this' ideas. From the philosophic and psychologic point of view, I do believe that lady kicks ass. (Please note, I know very little psychology or philosophy. Thank you.)

I would like to say now something that I really should have said about ten chapters ago: this story takes place some time before the 'Spider's Revenge' arc in xxxHolic, and shortly before Orehime got kidnapped in Bleach. (I think. I lost where exactly it fit in the Bleach timeline when my last computer died. Who remembers that? -author raises hand-)

Last things: 1) There are only a few chapters left for this story, so I'm starting to think more about my next project. I have a poll up on my page, and you can vote for your favorite option. (If 'another crossover' wins, I'll have another poll up with a bunch of my crossovers on it that you can vote for.) This poll will be open until I complete this fic. So go vote. 2) Please review, tell me what you liked, what you hated and anything I might have gotten wrong! Feedback= quicker, better writing!