The bell rang to signify the end of Hitsugaya's first day. It had been torture. His phone had gone off in the middle of class to signal the presence of a hollow in the school yard. The sensei had confiscated the phone and given him a long lecture about learning the rules of his new school. Unfortunately for the sensei but fortunately for Hitsugaya, he hadn't heard a word. The lecture was given to his gigai while he jumped out the window and killed the hollow. Then he stole his cell phone back and kissed Karin on the cheek before returning to his seat.

"It's not fair!" she complained as they left school together. "You missed the whole stupid lecture. And when you came back I couldn't even move! I know no one else could see you, but still!" Hitsugaya grinned. If he didn't have Karin, he would never have survived this ordeal.

Ichigo was waiting outside the building when they emerged. He was also worried about what happened to Karin, and had been wary of even letting his sisters go to school, but he couldn't come up with a sufficient excuse for keeping them home, so he settled for dropping them off and picking them up. He was as surprised as anyone that day to see Hitsugaya walking with Karin and wearing an elementary school uniform.

"Oi, Toushiro!" he called. "What are you…" But Hitsugaya's temper had been stretched far too thin that day. He grabbed Ichigo's collar and yanked him forward until they were nose to nose.

"Oi, Kurosaki!" he yelled, his eyes boring holes into Ichigo's face. "It's not Toushiro. It's Hitsugaya taicho! Especially when I'm wearing this. Got it!?"

"Hai hai," said Ichigo, pulling back and rubbing his neck. "Dagu, you didn't have to be so violent, I get the point." Karin tugged at Hitsugaya's sleeve.

"Oi," she whispered, "let's get out of here." The spectacle had drawn quite a crowd, and whispers of "Taicho? Who does he think he is?" and "Wow, he's scary," could be heard throughout the observers. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Let's go," he said gruffly. They pushed their way through the crowd of onlookers and walked until they were out of earshot. Hitsugaya explained to Ichigo exactly what he was doing there.

"I'll pick up your sisters in the morning and drop them off after school. You should go to school and keep an eye on your own friends," Hitsugaya told Ichigo.

"Bakata Tou…Ah gomen, Hitsugaya taicho!" Ichigo balked at a death stare from Hitsugaya.