Chapter 55:

-Tenth Division Gates-

Toshiro walked up toward the large doors that led into his division, but as he approached, he was spotted by the group of shinigami that were guarding the gates. He was immediately greeted by them with a barrage of; "Captain! Your back!"

They all bowed to him and continued doing so till he waved them off, to which they all stood back to their feet and kept up their excited greetings; "So you defeated the Bount?" one of the males asked, smirking widely as if wishing that he could have watched.

"I knew you'd do it! Great job Captain!" a female member said, smiling widely and somewhat fondly.

"Is Rangiku still in the office?" Toshiro asked, merely nodded to each of their enthusiastic words.

All of the guards nodded to his question and allowed the first male to answer it; "Yes sir. And so are the Substitute Shinigami and his friends."

Toshiro glanced to the gate, then nodded once more and waved them off; "Very well. You're cleared from guard duty for the night." he said walking by them and into his division.

"Thank you Captain!" they called out to him before he vanished around a corner.

The icy captain walked into the office building, then quickly went into the office itself, where he found Ichigo and Renji, sitting on the table off to the side of his own desk. Ishida was sitting on one of the office sofas, with Chad right next to him on the other cushion. Rangiku was sitting on the opposite sofa, taking up all the room she could on it as if she was saving the spot beside her for someone. Toshiro glanced at each of them as they noticed his presence; "Captain!" Rangiku called out happily, smiling to him widely.

"Ah...Toshiro!" Ichigo called out in greeting, waving his hand as he did.

Toshiro sighed lightly and sent the orange haired teen an icy glare; "It's Captain Hitsugaya to you." he said in annoyance.

"Ichigo! Have some respect!" Ririn claimed, suddenly appearing over his shoulder, and smacking Ichigo in his face.

Ichigo just rolled his eyes, not feeling any pain from the plushie and nodded his head; "Yeah yeah." was his response before crossing his arms and frowning deeply.

"Maybe if he didn't just leave me in the Twelfth with no idea in which direction to go in, I might have been more keen to call him that." Ichigo continued, then glanced over to Renji, whom was starting to become nervous, knowing that he was going to mention him in some way.

"If it wasn't for him finding me, I would have been lost." the orange haired teen claimed, pointing to the red head beside him.

Then Noba and Kurodo suddenly appeared from behind Toshiro's desk; "And it was thanks to me that they even met in the first place." Kurodo said, smirking to himself.

"It was more thanks to the fact that you were complaining to Renji about running too fast that they found one another." Noba added silently.

"How rude!" Kurodo called out, sounding insulted, but they were all brought back to reality as Toshiro cleared his throat.

"Anyway...Orihime should be here soon. Right, Captain?" Rangiku spoke up when Ichigo showed signs of further complaint.

Toshiro looked to her, then off to side, narrowed his eyes and nodded his head; "Yeah. I suppose I'll just wait for them then." he said, crossing his arms, closing his eyes and tilting his head down.

Everyone but Rangiku, looked at him with a raised brow, then to one other with a confused expression on their faces. They then tilted their heads to the side, as if they were trying to see his face, but when Toshiro opened his eyes to look at them, they all glanced away quickly, as if they had been doing exactly that. Toshiro smirked lightly, then simply turned around as the sound of a pair of fast moving foot steps fill the hallway. The pounding sound of feet hitting the floor boards became louder, then Orihime came into view in the doorway; "Hitsugaya-kun! Kurosaki-kun! Rangiku-san! I finally found my way here!" she claimed, smiling widely.

The group nodded and waved to her in greeting, but then the orange haired girl stepped to the side and showed Rukia standing to the side; "I never would have found my way here if it wasn't for Kuchiki-san though." Orihime continued as the two girls walked into the office.

They all gave the raven haired girl a nod and wave greeting as well, then Toshiro pointed to the sofa to where Rangiku was, to which they immediately sat down. The white haired captain walked over and sat down in his own chair, leaning back for a moment and closing his eyes. He then leaned his elbows on the desk in front of him and clasped his ice covered hands together; "Now that your all here. It's time for me to tell you...how tomorrow will proceed." he began, reopening his eyes and greatly stressing his last few words.

"First, Ran'Tao must take away Kariya's ability to absorb spirit particles and postpone the Joukaisho. When she succeeds, you will have your chance to fight him; Uryu. Since you want to fight him so badly, you will get your wish. But I'm afraid, you won't stand much of a chance against him, so your main goal will be to merely weaken him as much as possible before that bow breaks apart." he continued, staring at Ishida during most of his words.

The glasses wearing teen nodded to him, but his displeasure of knowing that he can't win was showing in his expression; "Understood." was all he said.

Toshiro nodded back to him, then looked at Ichigo and narrowed his eyes; "The second his bow breaks, you will step in and take his place. With the extended time for the Joukaisho to power up, he will quickly run low on his own power. You should be able to beat him quite easily so long as Ran'Tao's device works long enough." he finished, giving the orange haired teen a hard stare.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes to him and nodded his head; "I got it." he said, closing his eyes and seemingly in deep thought.

The icy captain leaned back in his chair, then looked around at each of them and just closed his eyes; "The rest of you must stay out of the fight. The other captains and lieutenants will be working quickly to seal the other Joukaisho...I'm still unsure of where they are and how many, but I'm sure that Ran'Tao has an idea. She'll tell you when she has finished in taking away Kariya's abilities." Toshiro said, reopening his eyes and looking around, but noticed that Chad was raising his hand.

"What is it?" he asked the large, dark skinned teenager, to which he placed his hand back in his lap and moved his head so everyone could see one of his eyes.

"You had met with this Ran'Tao many times haven't you?" Chad asked, to which Toshiro nodded and raised a brow; "Then why didn't you just ask her during one of those meetings?" he continued.

Everyone in the room blinked a few times and looked to the icy captain, whom had once again closed his eyes; "Because..." he began, making all of them lean in closely in anticipation.

"...I had more important things to talk about then that." he finished, causing everyone to mentally face palm and sigh loudly.

"Well...whatever the case, we'll be sure to do everything we can to make things go the way you've planned them." Rangiku said, smirking lightly and looking to the others with a raised and expecting brow.

Everyone nodded their heads, then looked to Toshiro once more; "You can all do what you like for now, just be sure to wake up early tomorrow morning." he claimed, standing up and walking toward the door.

But just as she was about to walk out, he was stopped as a blur of orange and black blocked his way; "And where do you think your going?" Yoruichi asked, raising an elegant brow to her friend.

Toshiro looked up to her slightly and raised a brow of his own; "To bed. I've only had eight hours of sleep for the last four days." he said, closing his eyes so he could not look at her chest, which was still at his eye level.

Yoruichi just smirked, crossed her arms and glanced over to everyone in the room; "I bet you guys were having a good conversation and he ruined it to talk about business. Am I right?" she asked, smirking a bit wider, yet knowingly.

All of the others looked around sheepishly, unable to figure out if they should get on Toshiro's or Yoruichi's bad side; "Well...we did need to discuss it." Rukia offered.

The tan woman shrugged and sighed; "But still...he's a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to actually socializing." she said, as if reporting a frequently used article.

Toshiro merely snorted silently, showing his annoyance as he continued to keep his eyes closed; "I can socialize with people just fine. There just isn't any need at the moment." was all he said, sounding like a lawyer stating his defense.

Yoruichi sighed loudly, then quickly grabbed his shoulders, spun him around and pushed him forward slightly; "Well we're going to fix that for you. Party at the Tenth tonight!" she called out, knowing that some of the shinigami outside would hear and immediately start passing the word around.

The icy captain glared at her from over his shoulder, then he looked away and closed his eyes; "I never authorized that." he stated calmly.

"Of course you did! Right? Rangiku?" she asked, winking to the strawberry blonde.

"That's right Captain! I'm surprised you don't remember. Maybe a few drinks and some of my delicious cooking and you will!" Rangiku claimed, smiling widely.

Toshiro rolled his eyes to them and was about to say that the party was canceled, but then Orihime and Rukia looked at him with a hopeful expression. The others quickly did the same and Toshiro realized that he was in a losing battle; "Fine." he said in a sigh.

Everyone then, fist pumped the air and smiled widely; "But you will have to be up early in the morning to fight Kariya. We're still at war, so don't over do it." Toshiro claimed, making everyone's shoulders slump down.

"Boy oh boy, you really know how to kill a mood don't you?" Yoruichi frowned to him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her cheek against his.

"Well...we're just gonna have to do something about that." she continued, winking at her white haired friend, but as she did this, Rangiku narrowed her eyes slightly and flexed her hands into fists.

"Are you okay Rangiku-san?" Orihime asked silently, to which the strawberry blonde snapped away from her glare at Yoruichi and looked to the orange haired girl with a smile.

"O-Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Rangiku asked, trying to hide the fact that she was feeling very uncomfortable with the tanned woman being so close to her captain.

But she only did a good enough job to fool everyone but Yoruichi herself, whom was now staring at her with an understanding expression. The purple haired woman then, looked around to everyone else, smiled widely to them and started leading Toshiro out of the room; "Come on guys!" she called out as she hurried her friend down the hall.

When Yoruichi had gotten everyone outside, they were all shocked, except for Rangiku; "How did they set this up so fast?" Toshiro asked, staring at all the tables, chairs and small cooking fires in the assembly area of his division.

"Well...when people hear 'party'...they will immediately mobilize." Yoruichi claimed, winking to Toshiro once more, to which he rolled his eyes.

-A few minutes into the party-

Toshiro sighed for the fiftieth time that night and watched as everyone ate, drank, laughed and just had a great time. But the icy captain just leaned against one of the many trees in the area and sipped on a simple cup of water; "Aww, come on Toshiro! I got them to do this so you could talk with your squad members and new friends." Yoruichi whined as she came up behind him and placed an elbow on his shoulder.

"Hmph. I know my comrades and friends well enough." he responded, taking another sip of his drink.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes to him, then she sighed deeply and gave him a slightly disapproving look; "You know...a background check does not count as actually getting to know your subordinates. Besides, you should treat all of them as your friends and get to know who they are personally." she said, smiling lightly.

Toshiro raised a brow to her and merely shrugged; "Very well. After this is over...I'll start meeting with my squad members." he said, his voice sounding as if he was rolling his eyes, even though he didn't do the physical act.

His tan friend sighed loudly, mentally face palming and briefly closing her eyes; "I swear...what would you do without me Toshiro?" she asked, giggling lightly and winking to him.

The white haired captain looked from her to everyone else at the party and sighed loudly; "I'm going to go check on everyone in the Fourth. I'll be back soon." he said rather coldly, causing her to blink in slight shock.

But then Yoruichi looked up in thought, smirked widely and stared at him suspiciously; "What?" he asked, raising a brow to her.

"Are you sure your just going to check out how things are going in the division? Isn't it more like; you're concerned for Soifon...and wanna check up on her?" Yoruichi asked, smirking deviously and winking to him.

Toshiro was caught of guard by her words, he then looked at her stunned for a moment and just turned away; "So that is why you're going!" she declared loudly, smiling proudly of herself.

"She's not the only reason." he said, allowing his words to hang in the air, which caused Yoruichi to nod in understanding.

"Well I'm glad you are going in for a visit...cause I'm rather worried about them too. Just be sure to show the same concern for your subordinates as your friends." she continued, winking to him knowingly.

The icy captain looked at her from over his shoulder and nodded lightly just before he disappeared in a shunpo; "Captain~!" Rangiku called out as she saw him leave.

Yoruichi smirked and walked toward her; "Don't worry...he'll be back soon." she said, winking to her.

Rangiku raised a brow and sighed somewhat sadly; "Well...I guess I'll start drinking now." the strawberry blonde claimed in a shrug.

The tan woman blinked a few times, then came up behind her quickly and placed a hand on her shoulder; "Can I've at first few words with you?" she asked, giving her rather serious expression.

The other woman raised a brow to her once more, then nodded her head and followed Yoruichi to one of the more secluded places in the area. Rangiku raised a brow to her and crossed her arms under her chest as they walked behind a tree; "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

Yoruichi gave her a hard stare, then took a deep breath; "I know how you feel Rangiku. I feel exactly the same way as you do. So instead of fighting like normal women would do...how about we work together?" she asked, smiling a devious and rather mysterious smirk.

Rangiku blinked at how straight forward she was being, but then she looked up thoughtfully and eventually smirked back; "What do you have in mind?" she asked back, to which they both smiled widely.

-Fourth Division-

"We were able to extract all of the poison, thanks to you freezing it in her blood stream, so...Captain Soifon will be here for only one more day to rest and she'll be cleared to go. But most of the other wounded however will be here for about a week till they're cleared to leave." Isane reported as she and Toshiro stood in the hospital's lobby.

The white haired captain nodded to her and watched as a passing healer ran by them, carrying a large pouch of blood; "Now if you'll excuse me sir...I must return to my-" but the tall lieutenant was cut off as Toshiro held up and ice covered hand.

"What about...Hinamori?" he asked, his voice lacking the normal bite and ice to it, which caused Isane to look down slightly as if she had known this would be brought up and didn't want to mention it.

"She is still recovering. It is slightly slower then before, but she is still making some progress." she said with a silent voice, seemingly saddened that she was the one whom had to tell him this.

Toshiro nodded to her once more and waved her off; "Alright...go ahead and return to your patients." he said, to which she immediately bowed to him and went running in the same direction as the other healer had.

He stayed in the lobby for a few moments before he turned around and walked out of the hospital; 'I should get that done before tomorrow.' he thought, narrowing his eyes.

"But then again...I did say that I would be right back." he said to himself, just before he vanished in a shunpo once more.

-Tenth Division-

Toshiro walked back in, sighing lightly as he did; 'I was going to use that as an excuse just to get back to my work...but I suppose I can listen to Yoruichi once more.' he thought walking back into the fray of the party.

The first thing he noticed was that both Yoruichi and Rangiku were no where in sight; "Where are they?" he asked Ichigo, knowing he would know whom he was speaking about.

"Um...I think they actually disappeared not too long ago. But I'm pretty sure that they'll be back. They never said that they were leaving for good so I can only assume." the orange haired teen said in a shrug.

Toshiro raised a brow to him and just glanced around the area once again; ' I guess I'll just go anyway since neither of them are here in the first place.' he thought turning away.

"Well if you see them tell them that I-" but he was cut off as two figures suddenly appeared on either side of him, wrapped their arms around his ice covered neck and his head.

He then had both sides of his face shoved between two soft objects, which had caused him to close his eyes, growl silently to himself and for his eye brow to twitch; "Welcome back! Toshiro/Captain!" Yoruichi and Rangiku called out together as they hugged him into their chests.

All the while, Ichigo and the others around them looked at the scene in shock, amusement and jealousy. But then Toshiro's growl became slightly louder and made most of the people start backing away; "You two..." he began.

Yoruichi and Rangiku looked down at him from between their embrace; "Yes?" they asked in unison as they felt the temperature around them drop significantly.

"YORUICHI! RANGIKU!" he yelled out, as seconds later, two woman's laughter was heard, even after most of the division was covered in a layer of frost in the blink of an eye.

But a few dozen yards away, on the roof of one of the Tenth's buildings, a shadowed figure stood with crossed arms and narrowed eyes; "Enjoy the time you have with your friends...while you still can."


And there is the end to this chapter. I'm surprised no one is giving me any ideas, I want to include you guys as much as possible, cause a lot of my normal reviewers just vanished. (sob) I'm not sure if it was because they have other stuff to do, but I want to get an idea of what you guys would like in this as well. I hope to see lots of reviews, ideas and suggestions. ;)