Toshiro walked into the squad 10 office after spending yet another weekend in the world of the living.
"Taicho!" said Rangiku a little louder than Toshiro was prepared for this early in the morning. He held his hand to his head.
"Would you mind keeping it down a bit?" he answered her.
"Sorry, but a message from squad 1 arrived for you after you had already left on Friday. I think it is from the soutaicho," said Rangiku.
Toshiro grumbled under his breath. He did not want to walk in on some mandatory taicho meeting first thing on a Monday morning.
He walked around his desk and sat down. Then he let out a gigantic yawn.
"You seem more tired than usual, taicho," Rangiku noted.
"Would you mind getting me some tea?" asked Toshiro. "Maybe it will help."
"Late night with Karin?" asked Rangiku suggestively.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, fukutaicho," he replied.
"Well, she is almost 17 now," replied Rangiku. "I remember what it was like being that age."
"For your information – not that it is any of your business – we were up most of the night talking," said a snarky Toshiro in response to his inquisitor.
"Yeah, right," answered Rangiku before she walked out the door to get her taicho the tea he asked for.
Toshiro opened up the message on his desk and read it.
Hitsugaya-taicho,
You are hereby summoned to appear for a one-on-one meeting with the soutaicho on Monday immediately following the lunch hour.
Sasakibe-fukutaicho
"Well that was short and to the point," said Toshiro to himself.
"What did the message say?" asked Rangiku.
"I need to head over to squad 1 today after lunch. Can you handle the training session we had planned?" asked Toshiro.
"Hai, not a problem," she answered. "What do you think this meeting is about?"
"I don't know. It makes me a little nervous since it is a one-on-one meeting," answered Toshiro.
Toshiro took a sip of the tea his fukutaicho brought him and started to rifle through the piles of papers that were stacked on his desk.
"I really don't feel like doing this right now," he admitted with a sigh.
"So put it off – I do it all the time and I don't have a problem," said Rangiku.
"That's because I usually pull up your slack," said Toshiro.
Rangiku flopped on the sofa that sat in the middle of the room in front of Toshiro's desk. "So how was your weekend?"
"Karin is an amazing soccer player," said Toshiro.
"Oh, did she play a match while you were there?" asked Rangiku.
"Hai, she ended up with two goals against one of their top rivals in the city," answered Toshiro.
"But that shouldn't surprise you – you've watched her play since she was little," said Toshiro.
"That's true," he said. "But she just gets better and better. I would be surprised if she kept playing into her university years."
"University? So, did you finally bring up the subject?" Rangiku asked.
"Hai," answered Toshiro. "She's definitely not Ichigo."
"I could have told you that," Rangiku replied.
"He would be happy coming to the Soul Society full-time," noted Toshiro. "He spends a ton of time here already and when he isn't here, he is one of the main protectors of Karakura Town. Karin has Shinigami tendencies and may become one eventually, but I think she has made her decision. She wants to help people and she thinks becoming a doctor is the way she wants to do it."
"A doctor?" answered Rangiku. "She must be very smart."
"She's almost the perfect woman, Rangiku," he replied sadly. "She's fantastic on both the inside and out."
"Oh, sir – I'm so sorry," Rangiku replied, understanding that this was one more decision that would keep them apart.
"I just wish I could be with her more. I enjoy my time with her so much," he admitted.
"Yet you two aren't even officially a couple," said Rangiku.
"It just wouldn't be fair to her," Toshiro said. From the beginning, he had continued to hold back.
"Don't you think you two ought to mutually decide on what your relationship should be? Both of you have liked each other for such a long time," said Rangiku.
"I don't want to hurt her," said Toshiro. "And I can never guarantee when I can come back the next time. There may be emergencies and she will never be able to turn to me for help. I won't be there for emotional support. She will come to resent me for it."
"You don't know that," said Rangiku. "You should talk to her."
"I'll be sure to do that – the next time I see her," he replied sarcastically knowing full well it could be a few weeks to six months before he got to the world of the living again.
OlOlOlOlOlO
Toshiro Hitsugaya reported to the squad 1 barracks immediately following the lunch hour in the seireitei. As he did with any other meeting, he reported to the large meeting room where the taichos of all the squads would often congregate. He stood in his usual position. It wasn't long before the soutaicho entered as well. Instead of going to his usual spot, he walked right up to Toshiro and faced him.
"Hitsugaya-taicho, I have a matter to discuss with you that concerns me a great deal," said Yamamoto.
"Hai, soutaicho," answered Toshiro.
"It has come to my attention that you have spent a significant amount of time in the world of the living these past few years," said Yamamoto. "Much more than any of the other taichos in the Gotei 13."
Toshiro was fairly confident what the subject now was going to be….the question at hand now was how much did the soutaicho know….or did he want to know.
"When it was brought to my attention, I had some reconnaissance done on the situation," the soutaicho futher explained. "It seems that you have been visiting the substitute Shinigami's sister much of the time you were there."
"Hai, that's correct," said Toshiro. He dared not lie. Lying just wasn't done when Yamamoto asked you a question.
"I need to know for the sake of the Gotei 13, what are your intentions with Karin Kurosaki?" he asked.
"Sir?" Toshiro questioned. He didn't like that last question at all. After all, why was Yamamoto so interested in this situation? So what? He spent a lot of time in the world of the living. For many of his visits, he took vacation time. Or he would stop by if he happened to be there anyway.
"May I ask why it is important for you to know about something so…..personal?" asked Toshiro.
Yamamoto turned away from the squad 10 taicho and sighed. "A few years before you became a Shinigami, there was a similar situation – a situation that I do not wish to repeat."
"Sir?" said Toshiro.
Yamamoto turned to face the squad 10 taicho. "There was a taicho who abruptly left his position to go to the world of the living and marry a human."
Isshin Kurosaki….
"Soutaicho, may I ask why that is that a bad thing?" asked Toshiro. He had no intentions of leaving the seireitei, but wanted to understand the situation further and where the soutaicho was coming from.
"There are a few reasons actually," explained the soutaicho. "I then had a squad whose leader was then suddenly gone. You, yourself, know how difficult it was for both squad and fukutaicho when the defections of Aizen, Ichimaru and Tosen took place. It is not an optimal situation"
"Hai," answered Toshiro formally. One taicho leaving was certainly not as bad as three at once, but the search and transition is not an easy thing for a squad to go through.
"Besides that, this Shinigami decided to procreate and….well, let's just say that although it has worked to our advantage, having humans running around the world of the living with abnormally high, potentially out-of-control reiatsu could be a problem."
"I understand," said Toshiro.
"Finally, there is the potential for a snowball effect. Should one Shinigami do it, what is to keep many others from following suit? The system is just not created to work that way. We have absorbed the loss of the one rogue taicho, but should many others decide the same thing, both of our worlds would be in trouble."
"Soutaicho, I completely understand," said Toshiro.
"So again, I ask you - what are your intentions with Karin Kurosaki?" Yamamoto asked.
"Soutaicho, to tell you the truth, at present time, we are only very good friends. I will not lie to you and tell you that it may not develop into more. However, I do want you to feel confident that I am devoted to my duties here in the seireitei and will not abandon my post. You do not need to worry about my squad or my position as taicho," said Toshiro.
"Good!" said Yamamoto. "Do not force me to take any drastic actions, Hitsugaya-taicho. If I perceive a change in your behavior, I will not hesitate to send you to the Maggot's Nest. It would be better to replace you in a controlled manner than in an uncontrolled one."
"Hai, soutaicho," Toshiro answered. He wasn't worried. He was firm in his stance. Although he had obviously attracted unwanted attention and the seireitei had noticed his actions, he had no intention of leaving the Soul Socity like Isshin Kurosaki had. He liked Karin – a lot – but was already well-aware of the impossibility of their being with each other full-time.