"Taicho, isn't it about time for you to take a break?" asked his fukutaicho, Rangiku Matsumoto.

"I just ate lunch an hour ago, Matsumoto" Toshiro replied.

"No, taicho. I mean a real break…like maybe for a couple of days," clarified Rangiku.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Well, you never seem to take any time off anymore," she said to him. "Other than sleeping in on mornings after you were here late, you are never not here." Ever since his last visit to the world of the living and his conversation with Karin Kurosaki, he's back to being the taicho he used to be. No breaks, no vacations, and no happiness.

"Matsumoto, what would you have me do?" he asked.

"Taicho, I know you have to miss her. You should go visit her and apologize….," started Rangiku.

"You are out of line, fukutaicho," he said sternly.

"But taicho..."

"End of discussion," he interrupted, his head still down looking at the paperwork on his desk.

Rangiku sighed knowing the conversation was over for now. She flopped onto the couch in front of Toshiro's desk – her usual spot in his office – and didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"Taicho, have you heard anything about Karin?" she asked.

"I told you, the conversation was over," he reiterated.

"Sorry," she replied. "I just thought…sometimes it is nice to talk if something is bothering you. I know you loved her, sir. It has to be hard on you, too. I know you had her best interests at heart when you stopped seeing her."

A few minutes more passed and nothing but silence filled the office.

"I do miss her, Matsumoto," he finally said aloud. "To be honest, I haven't heard a word about her from anyone."

"You should go to the world of the living just to make sure she's ok," said Rangiku.

"No," he disagreed. "I'm trying to stay away as long as possible. The longer I stay in the seireitei, the better off we'll both be."

"If you say so," said Rangiku.

I don't think I could hold myself back if I did see her, he thought to himself. I need to stay away for her sake.

After a few more moments of silence. "Matsumoto?" said Toshiro.

"Hmm?" she replied.

"Thanks for being there for me," he said to her.

"Anytime, taicho," she answered.

OlOlOlOlOlOlO

It was that very afternoon when the taicho and fukutaicho of squad 10 were on the outside practice field with their squad overseeing some sparring sessions among the unseated officers when a hell butterfly made its way to the two officers.

Rangiku stuck out her finger and listened to the message.

"Sir, you've been asked to report immediately to the main senkaimon for a mission in the world of the living," said Rangiku.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath. How ironic, he noted seeing as he was just talking about this very situation earlier in the day.

"Hai," he affirmed that he had heard the message and would get back to his office to get ready to go immediately.

When he got to the gate, Ukitake-taicho was there to meet him.

"What's going on, taicho?" Toshiro asked his fellow taicho.

"Sorry for the sudden notice, Hitsugaya-taicho. This should be a short one, but it's an urgent one. We have a bit of a lag in Shinigami in Karakura Town right now and five menos have just made an appearance all at once. We don't know what's going on with Kurumadani, but Ichigo can't handle all of them. If we let him handle them one at a time, they will wreak havoc on the city. Use your shunpo to get there as fast as possible and help him out if you can."

"Hai," he answered.

Juushiro opened up the gate right away and Toshiro entered.

OlOlOlOlOlOlO

Ichigo Kurosaki was already battling his second menos and knew about the remaining three when he heard a loud explosion just a few blocks away. He looked over to where the noise came from and noted that one of the remaining hollows was now gone and only a plume of dust remained from where it had fallen. I wonder who is here? he asked himself knowing that another Shinigami had to be the one who took the menos down.

When the second menos had disappeared, Ichigo made his way to the closest of the remaining two. However, when he got there, he saw that Toshiro had already engaged this hollow.

"Kurosaki, go get that last one. I've got this one," Toshiro yelled over to the substitute Shinigami.

Ichigo didn't say anything and went straight for the last remaining hollow. Upon seeing that it was Toshiro who was now back in Karakura town having been gone for nearly a year, his temper flared. It was the menos who suffered the most as Ichigo took no time in slashing and slicing the hollow into pieces as an outlet to his anger.

When he was done, Ichigo went back to where Toshiro was as a courtesy to talk about what had just happened and make sure he was alright. Toshiro had dispatched his hollow with no issues either and was just putting Hyorinmaru back in his sheath when Ichigo reappeared.

"Are you ok?" Toshiro asked Ichigo.

"I'm fine," Ichigo answered coldly. "Why did you…?"

"Soul Society was afraid five were too much for you to handle at once. They wanted to minimize the damage to the city," said Toshiro interrupting.

"I see," said Ichigo.

The situation felt awkward to both of the Shinigami. Toshiro could feel the tension coming off by his cohort.

"I've got to get going," said Ichigo as he turned to leave, mostly just to get himself away from this person he was pissed at before he did anything he might regret.

"Wait!" interjected Toshiro trying to get another few words in before the orange-haired human could leave.

"What?" said Ichigo bluntly. The anger was starting to come through clearer the longer Ichigo stayed to talk to the squad 10 taicho.

Toshiro was taken aback a little, but he wanted to know how Karin was and this was probably going to be his only chance. He would deal with the repercussions of having to talk to her older brother if it meant peace of mind for him.

"Can you tell me how Karin is?" asked Toshiro.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Ichigo shaking his head. "You basically abandon her…no words or contact for nearly a year after spending, what? Over 5 years of seeing her…..she has to deal with what you did to her on her own and now you are showing concern for her?"

"I didn't abandon her," said Toshiro.

"Well, I don't know what the hell you call it, but it sure looked that way to me," said Ichigo.

"I left for her own good," said Toshiro. "You have to understand, Ichigo. She was growing up and it was getting to the point where it wasn't going to be such an innocent friendship any longer. What kind of life would she have had with me in the Soul Society? It would have been cruel to let a relationship develop. That's why I left."

"So you made the decision all by yourself," Ichigo said in a mocking tone. "Don't you think she had an interest in the decision you made? I don't think you understood just how much she cared for you. She was basically catatonic for a good week after you left her at her formal. I had to go scoop her up off the floor and take her home. She wouldn't eat…hell, she didn't leave her bedroom. We finally got her back to school, but she was just going through the motions. She didn't even go out for soccer her senior year…did you know that? And you know how much she loves that sport. Now she won't be playing at the university level. The Karin you left doesn't even exist anymore. The Karin of today is lonely and depressed."

Toshiro was taken aback. "I-I had no idea. Oh my God, what have I done?" he asked as the repercussions of his actions sank in. "I thought….that she would forget about me and move on with her life."

"Well, that didn't happen," said Ichigo. "I place the blame squarely on your shoulders for what you have done to her."

Toshiro looked down at the ground in disbelief. "I understand," he said. "And I want to fix this. I don't know if she can ever forgive me, but I need to try. Ichigo…I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

Ichigo saw the pain in the taicho's face. Now that he knew what Toshiro's true intention was, he could forgive him – though he knew that if the happy go-lucky of Karin of old was to come back, Toshiro was the only person who could make it happen.

"Can I see her?" he asked Ichigo.

"I think that is a good idea," Ichigo answered. "But not today. You need to prepare for this. It's not going to be easy."

"You're right," noted Toshiro.

"She's graduating in a few weeks. I don't want any major disruptions to her life before then. For all I know you will just upset her once again and she'll fall apart. Let's leave things as they are today until then. Come to her graduation, then drop by the house afterwards. I'll make sure she's ready," said Ichigo.

"I'll be there," said Toshiro. "You can count on it."

OlOlOlOlOlOlO

Rangiku Matsumoto was a social butterfly. On this particular night, she was out with Renji, Izuru, Shuuhei and Momo going from establishment to establishment having a few drinks at each and having an all-around good time.

Their last stop was a small hole-in-the-wall in the Jurinan district. They walked in and found a spot with two seats right at the bar. Two of them sat down while the other two just stood next to them.

Renji was far gone with Shuuhei right behind him…they had been playing some sort of a drinking game trying to one-up each other and as a result, they were nearly down and out for the night. Rangiku enjoyed watching the two men make fools of themselves, but at the same time hoped that she wouldn't have to turn into "mom" for the night and take care of them if they emptied their abused stomachs at any point.

She randomly looked over and saw a lone figure at one of the tables in the corner, head held low and a bottle of something in his right hand. The figure looked awfully familiar, though she questioned her judgment because of the booze she had consumed and the fact that Toshiro Hitsugaya would not be in place like this doing that.

She continued to ponder the figure. No, it just had to be him. Though he had grown and matured over the years, there still weren't many short, spiky white-haired men running around the Soul Society.

"Taicho?" she quietly said once she reached the table. "Is that you?"

"Hnnnn….," was the only reply she got. Then he groaned and drunkenly lifted his head and looked her in the eyes.

"It is you, taicho," she said. "Are you alright?"

He flopped his head back down again, not really answering her question. But knowing her taicho and what he was like, she knew he was in trouble and needed her.

She returned to her friends. "Izuru, I hate to do this to you, but I need to go. Can you handle these two idiots on your own?"

"Hai," he replied. "It's not a problem. I'll probably just take them back to my place since it is the closest."

"Sounds good," she replied and waved good-bye to him.

She returned to the table where Toshiro was sitting. "I know you aren't going to be happy about this, but we're leaving."

"Nooooo," he replied lowly.

"Yes, let's go," she insisted and propped him up with her side.

I can't wait to hear this story….