Chapter 14:

Little did he know that Captain Hitsugaya had changed back into his adult self and remained that way for most of the early morning. Even so, that didn't stop him from sleeping like a baby. Despite being advised against doing any sort of work, Hitsugaya spent most of his night tackling the paperwork that had been piling up. He made a game out of it, trying to see how much he could finish in an hour or picking a random part of the stack and try to finish that much in one sitting. He had gotten pretty far. And with no changes.

"Should you be doing that, sir?" Rangiku had asked him in the early hours of the morning. "What if you change and stab yourself in the eye with that pen?"

"If you don't want me to do this, you're more than welcome to help."

That got her to leave him alone.

So that's how he spent his night. He didn't stop until he noticed the sun slowly beginning to rise. By that time, his eyes just wouldn't work anymore. He was exhausted. For a minute, he didn't think he could muster up the strength to walk all the way over to the couch to sleep and should just nap here at his desk. He had in the past, nodding off over his work. But the couch seemed a lot more comfortable. So he somehow managed to drag himself over to his napping spot and fell asleep long before his head hit the pillow.

An hour and a half later, Byakuya came in tugging at his arm. He kept his eyes shut. The tugging continued. He swatted the annoying pulling away with his arm. It kept up. Finally he opened his eyes and found Byakuya, the toddler one this time, pulling at him, wanting attention.

"What?" he responded irritated.

Byakuya kept his hands on Hitsugaya's sleeve but stopped tugging. "Where's the baby? I wanna play with him."

"Baby..?" He understood a moment later. "Oh. He's not here." He closed his eyes again, turning away.

He frowned. "Where is he? You must know 'cause you look just like him only biggerer." Byakuya didn't understand the situation. He had no idea that Hitsugaya and that baby were one in the same.

Hitsugaya had almost fallen asleep again when Byakuya started tugging once more.

"Where is he?"

Hitsugaya groaned. "Not here. Go play somewhere else."

He wasn't taking no for an answer. He tugged again. This time, Hitsugaya pulled his sleeve free and turned away. Refusing to give up, Byakuya climbed on top of the captain and jumped hard on his stomach.

"Where is he?"

"Gah!" Wind knocked out of him, Hitsugaya rolled over, taking Byakuya with him. While he worked to get the air back into his lungs, the toddler sat on his leg and poked him in the face.

"Where's the baby?"

Pissed off and wanting nothing to do with him, Hitsugaya picked up Byakuya and sent him out in the hall. "Go play somewhere else."

"But-"

"Go!" He pointed down the hall. "I'm napping in here so scat!" He slammed the door to end the conversation.

Byakuya sat on the floor, wondering what he did. With nothing else to do, he went back to Rukia to see what she was doing. Maybe she could help him find something to do.

In the room next-door, Rukia was still trying to figure out what was wrong with Ichigo. Did he normally sleep this way as a child? She had spent plenty of time in Ichigo's room during the night hours so she knew his sleep patterns very well. On those restless nights, she would occasionally take a peek out of the closet and watch him sleep. He was a fairly normal sleeper. Pretty calm. However, he did have a tendency to snore a bit. Sometimes he would mumble in his sleep and move around a bit. There were times when she would find him sprawled out over the bed sleeping with his mouth wide open. That was consistent with how he was now as a toddler. If he was having a vivid dream, he would thrash around somewhat, but nothing major. She had no choice but to learn his sleeping patterns considering that their sleeping areas were only a couple steps away from each other's. But so far, she had never seen him act the way he had just been minutes ago, waking up, walking around and falling asleep again standing up. Was it a form of sleepwalking or was there something wrong with him? He didn't seem sick to her. Maybe it was something that he ended up outgrowing as he got older.

Byakuya entered the room looking disappointed.

"Hi, there," Rukia greeted him. "So how was it?"

He frowned. "I couldn't find the baby and the man in there kicked me out."

Hitsugaya must have not changed back yet. So Rukia took it upon herself to entertain her brother. "Would you like to play with me, then?"

He nodded. "Ok!" He hurried over to the table and sat down. "What do you wanna play?"

"Whatever you want."

"Hm…" Byakuya cocked his head to the side. He wasn't sure. After a minute of thought and coming up with nothing, Byakuya cocked his head to the other side. Moments later, he was rubbing his skull with both hands moaning in frustration.

"How about we play with some of those toys Ukitake brought for you, hm?"

"Oh, yeah!" Byakuya rushed from the table over to the pile of toys left by the captain. There was so much to choose from.

Yawning loudly, Ichigo, finally awake, sat up on the couch blinking drowsily around.

Rukia smiled at him and his messy hair. "Good morning."

"Hi…" he waved sleepily. He was awake but not fully aware. He rubbed his eyes with both hands, yawning so much his whole body shook.

Rukia came over and patted his head. "Finally up, huh?"

He nodded.

"Want something to eat now?"

He nodded again.

"Ok. Come on." Rukia sat Ichigo down in her lap and pushed the bowl of now cold rice toward him. He could eat fine on his own, but was too lazy to do so now and merely opened his mouth, expecting her to feed him. Knowing that he needed to eat something, Rukia obliged and guided the food into his open mouth with the spoon.

It was slow going. After a few more spoonfuls, Ichigo was feeling much more awake and full of energy. The food wasn't getting into his mouth fast enough and he was really hungry. When the spoon came his way again, he reached out and snatched it from her. Ichigo began to shovel the rice into his mouth at an incredible speed.

"Ichigo, slow down. Don't choke."

He didn't heed her warnings and kept eating. He tipped the bowl upside-down and finished off his meal in one gulp.

Sighing, Rukia looked at him and the empty bowl. "Full?"

He answered with a belch.

"Good." There was a tug on her other arm. It was Byakuya. "Yes?"

"I thought you were gonna play with me," Byakuya whined.

"I am, I am. I just needed to make sure that Ichigo ate something. Are you ready now?"

He nodded and held up a stuffed rhino plush. "Be him!"

"Him?" She took the plush given to her.

"Uh-huh. He's a boy." Byakuya stood back waiting.

Rukia did nothing.

He frowned. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Play!" He threw his arms into the air. "Play, play, play!"

She looked at the plush toy. How are you supposed to play with this? She didn't understand what he expected of her. But he was getting more and more impatient by the second and she needed to hurry up. She took the plush in her hand and made it walk across the floor around her knees. "Dom dee dom, I'm Mr. Rhino. Nice day today, huh?"

Byakuya just stared at her actions a little disappointed. "That's not how he talks."

An idea popped into her head. She thought she knew how to play with him now. She turned the rhino around so it faced him. "Oh, yeah? Then how am I supposed to talk, huh? You a smart kid, aren't you?" She made the plush gallop towards him and attack. The plush attached to his face, messing up his hair and tickling him.

Byakuya giggled shrilly and backed away. "No, no!"

"Roar!" She made the rhino attack again.

Her brother screamed happily and ran away. "No, no, Rhino! Stop that!"

"That's Mr. Rhino to you!" She got up and began to chase Byakuya around the room with the plush. He ran around the room laughing and screaming, having a wonderful time.

Interested, Ichigo stood up and watched them run around the office. Byakuya ran to the couch and hid behind Ichigo. Rukia chased after them both, roaring playfully. Ichigo started to smile, getting into the game. "I'll defeat him!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Rukia roared again and had the toy attack Ichigo. "Resistance is futile!"

"Ahh!" Ichigo screamed and pushed Byakuya out of the way, running. Now all three of them were having fun. Even Rukia was enjoying this.

Trying to avoid small children was no easy task for Renji. He had been hiding in various places all day long, none of which lasted very long. If it wasn't someone telling him to move it along, it had something to do with the toddlers in some form. Either they found him by chance and wanted to play or standing a few feet away crying their heads off forcing Renji to abandon his hiding place for a quieter one.

"What with these kids using me as their personal jungle gym anyway?" he thought aloud to himself. Everywhere he went, toddlers were trying to hurt him in some way. Be it his ears with their screaming or by 'playing' with him where his whole body ached afterwards. "How much longer will this go on? I'm sick of it."

The only good part about all this was seeing his captain reduced to a whiny little brat. He understood nothing of what it meant to be a noble aside from always having his way. What were appearances to him who only wanted to play? This would be useful blackmail if he wasn't so afraid of his captain skinning him alive.

Feeling bad about leaving Rukia alone with the kids all this time, Renji walked back to the office to give her a hand. He was standing just outside the door when he heard a pop from the office next-door. A second later, he heard crying. It continued. Wasn't anyone in there with him? Concerned and wanting to stop the crying, Renji went next-door.

A baby version of Hitsugaya was sitting in the middle of the couch crying. The moment he saw Renji, he reached out for him with both hands, still crying.

Renji went over and picked him up. The baby latched onto him at once and buried his face in his chest. He was still crying. So Renji tried his best to calm him down. "Um… there, there?" This was a disaster. He had no idea how to take care of a baby. He could barely take care of himself. Ichigo was the only person he knew of who was actually good with kids. Now that he was in the same boat as everyone else, Rukia was the only one who came close. Maybe it was a mother's instincts. Or perhaps it was because she watched and learned from Ichigo how to do things. He patted Hitsugaya's back and shushed him again, trying to comfort him. "It's ok. Shh, shh, shh… It's ok."

Hitsugaya cooed and sucked his thumb, resting his head on Renji. He was much calmer now. Maybe all he needed was another person nearby. It was scary to be all alone as he was.

This wasn't so bad. Now that Renji had gotten Hitsugaya calm, he was feeling pretty confidant. "Ha, this is pretty easy." He still hated kids, though.

He looked down into Hitsugaya's big aqua eyes staring up at him innocently. He sucked his thumb and looked into Renji's eyes with his own.

Renji's heart melted. "I guess… that is kinda… cute."

Hitsugaya cooed and nuzzled him.

"You are kinda cute, huh? You're cute, aren't you?"

He sucked his thumb again, not paying any attention.

Renji held him and paced the room. Now that he had a baby all calm and mellow, now what? What was he supposed to do with him?

He looked from side to side, thinking. Maybe Rukia could help him out. He had no idea what to do with a calm child besides leave them alone. What do you do with a baby anyway? He was clueless.

Renji went next-door to ask her for help. When he did, he found her in the middle of a game with the two toddlers. She seemed to be attacking them with a stuffed animal, chasing them around the office. Hitsugaya watched curiously from Renji's arms. This looked interesting.

Running around the table, Ichigo grabbed the spoon he had been eating with before and pointed it at Rukia. "Stop right there! I'll defeat you!"

"Oh, really? How?"

He gave the spoon a wave. "With magic, of course!"

Byakuya ran and hid behind Ichigo. "What do you mean? Magic?"

"Think about it," Ichigo explained. "Beattin' 'em up isn't working so the only thing left is magic power!"

He didn't seem to understand. It was more random child play. But he went along with Ichigo anyway. He pointed to his sister. "Defeat the monster!"

Ichigo waved the spoon at Rukia, making strange sound effects as he did.

Playing along with their game, Rukia cried out in fake pain, clutching her chest. "Oh, no! I am defeated! Curse you! Bluagh!" She collapsed on the ground with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, dead.

"Yay! We did it! We won!" Ichigo and Byakuya celebrated by jumping up and down and cheering.

Hitsugaya clapped his hands, watching them happily.

Renji moaned. He couldn't understand it at all. What kind of game was this? It made no sense to him at all. He cleared his throat and called for Rukia. "Can you help me out here. I found Toshiro alone and I don't know what to do with him."

Rukia rolled over and started to get up. "They don't do much; babies. You can just hold him or try playing with him."

"How the heck do I do that?"

Ichigo started beating Rukia with his spoon. "Hey, you! You're dead! You can't talk."

Was he still playing? Rukia played along. "It's ok now, Ichigo. The magic spell you did turned me back to good so I'm not evil anymore."

He looked down at the spoon. "Really? I did that?"

"Yup, you sure did." She patted his head then moved to where Renji was still standing holding the baby. The baby went willingly into her arms and held tightly to her chest. "Oh, this is when he's easy. You can't handle this?"

Renji frowned. "I didn't say I couldn't handle it. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. That's all."

"Whatever." She bounced the baby in her arms a little and he smiled. "Who's a good baby? You are, yes, you are." He giggled at her voice, loving it. He loved the attention he was getting.

Down the hall, in his private room, Yurima woke with a start. He sprang up, zanpakuto still clutched in his arms. "Whoa!" That was amazing. What a dream! Only it wasn't. He actually spoke to his zanpakuto in his own inner world and got the answers he seeked. His zanpakuto was willing and able to help him cure everyone and even informed him on how to do it.

Excited, he got to his feet and ran for the door. He fumbled to get it open and when he did, he took off in a dead run to the first place he thought of. He had to tell them the good news and save his friend. He bolted to the office and flung the door wide open.

"I got it! I did it!"

Everyone inside looked up. Ichigo was in the middle of a tug-of-war over Seaweed Ambassador with Byakuya and Hitsugaya was still being held by Rukia.

Renji understood and spoke up first. "You found a way to fix all this? You can cure them now?"

"Yup!" He held up his zanpakuto with pride. "She told me everything I needed to know! Took a while. Apparently she thought it was funny or something. I'm not really sure… But none of that matters now. I can cure them all and that's all that counts."

"Ahem to that!" Renji grabbed his captain and shoved him forward. "I can't wait! I never thought I'd want my captain back so badly!"

Rukia gave him a strange look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Face it, Rukia. I'd rather have him being cold and glaring at me in his usual calm, cool and collected way than have him screaming in my ear and pulling my hair and calling me names and kicking me and anything else he can think of. He's a little brat! I want the old quieter Byakuya back. I can't wait. I've been dying for this all week!"

"It has only been a couple of days. Not even a week."

"It feels longer to me." He pushed Byakuya towards Yurima. The tiny toddler looked nervously up at the stranger, unsure of what was going to happen to him. "So how's this work?"

Yurima turned his zanpakuto over and started to unsheathe it. "It's very simple, really. All I have to do is stab him with this once and he'll be cured."

Byakuya's eyes went wide. "What?"

Ichigo, too, looked concerned. "How come?"

"Quiet," said Renji. "You'll have it done to yourself, too. Right after he does."

His brown eyes got as big as Byakuya's. "What? Why?"

"Renji!" Rukia snapped. He was scaring them. There was no way they would agree to something like that.

Renji grabbed Byakuya as he tried to run. "Now hold still. Go ahead, Yuri."

"It's Yurima, actually."

"Whatever. Just stab him already."

He held the sharp blade out and took aim at Byakuya's tiny body.

"No!" Byakuya started screaming and thrashing. "No! No! No! Get away! NO!"

Renji was having a hard time keeping him still. "It'll be over in a second. Just keep-"

"No!" He started kicking and jerking his body in all directions. He was trying to get to his sister. "Help me! Help me, Rukia! Don't let them! Stop them! Help!"

She stood by and did nothing. It was something that had to be done. But at the same time, her brother was terrified. She was torn. "Uh… Um, guys? Why don't we wait until he's calmed down or..?"

"No way! He'll get it done now and get it over with." Renji tried to pin his captain to the floor. "Hold still, I said!"

He was screaming at the top of his lungs. He was crying.

"Leave him alone!" Ichigo snapped, jumping off the couch. "Leave him alone!"

Renji looked at him. "You want to go first then?"

Ichigo ran and hid behind Rukia. "No!"

"Either way, you're getting it, too."

"Huh?"

Byakuya twisted around and bit Renji. "OW!" Freed, Byakuya ran and hid with Ichigo behind his sister. Renji stood up and moved towards them. "Get over here! Both of you!"

Rukia held onto Ichigo's hand, holding onto the baby with the other. He was still trying to run away.

"I promise, it won't hurt," Yurima said. "It's just like getting a needle. It's just like a shot."

Wrong thing to say to the terrified toddlers. They went ballistic. Ichigo tried to move backwards but Rukia was still holding onto his hand. He leaned back and started clawing at her hand, trying to get her to let go. He pressed his body into her legs, trying to get behind her. Pulling as hard as he could, Ichigo managed to get free and ran. Byakuya followed him.

"Get back here!" Renji shouted.

"No! get away!" They ran right out the open door and into the hall.

"Damn it!" Renji stood up. "Why'd you leave that door open?"

Yurima looked at him. "I- I didn't…"

Rukia shoved Hitsugaya into Renji's arms. "I'll go after them. You clearly have no idea what you're doing!"

"What? But-"

"You'll only scare them more. Let me handle this." She chased after the terrified tots.

"Wait! Wait for me!" Yurima followed after her.

Renji blinked. "H- hey! Wait a minute!" He held up the baby. "At least change him back first!"

Too late. They were long gone. He sighed and looked at the baby.

Hitsugaya looked at him and started sniffling.

"Oh, man…"

All the excitement and sudden exchange from Rukia to an angry Renji had upset him. He was starting to cry.

Well... I lied. Yay?

There will be 15 chapters to this story. So one more will be added. This isn't the end just yet. Yay!

Ok, then ^-^ Please review!