Intro: Second part of Prologue, and that's about all you need to know

Disclaimer: Same stuff as before, I don't own Bleach.. etc. It's not much to be proud of, since they ARE more like, characters taken from a mould, but I "own" Otou-san and Okaa-sama...

When Toushirou woke up, he was no longer on the mountain track, he was in a field. What the hell? There aren't any fields around the mountain… Looking around, he tried to remember what had happened, when he realised that someone seemed to be missing…

"Kumatsurou! Where are you!" There was no reply. Toushirou's heart dropped like a stone, Kumatsurou mustn't have died after all, and was still in the living world. His laments were cut short when someone cannonballed into him and he landed face first in the dirt. "What the…"

"Nii-san!" Kumatsurou exclaimed happily as he wrapped Toushirou in a tight embrace. Toushirou grinned as he returned the hug. Suddenly, he became aware of another presence. They were not alone. Releasing his brother immediately, he looked behind him to see who the stranger was. It was a man, dressed quite simply, and he appeared to be enjoying the spectacle of the twins' reunion.

"Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?" Kumatsurou smacked his brother's head unmercifully.

"Nii-san… don't be so rude! This is our Otou-san"

"Otou…san?"

Kumatsurou nodded as he continued. "We're in Soul Society now, it's where all the spirits go when people die, and they give you new families, since it's usually impossible to find your real families. But since we died together, they managed to stick us both in the same family!"

The strange man spoke for the first time. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Toushirou. Your brother and I have been having a chat while you were still coming around, and it appears that you are quite the scholar…" The man stopped, for Toushirou had just punched Kumatsurou on the nose.

"Baka… you're pretty smart as well you know Kumatsurou." Once again, Toushirou said this with a slight blush in his cheeks.

The foster father smiled and beckoned them towards him. "Let's go then, we live in the 39th district of West Rukongai." When they arrived, the twins were rooted to the spot in shock. The 39th district was a busy, bustling place, quite different to the home they were used to. Leading them into a house on the outskirts of town, the man yelled out. "We're baaaaack!" A prim and well-groomed woman stepped out, quite unlike the twins' own mother.

"Hello there, I'm your Okaa-sama. I expect you both to be on your best behaviour at all times, if not, I will punish you severely." Both the twins and their father blinked. It wasn't often that one had to refer to their own mother, even a foster mother, with such respect.

Kumatsurou blinked several times before introducing himself. "Um… hey, I'm Kumatsurou, and this is my brother, Toushirou." Toushirou scowled, if this was the woman they were supposed to call their mother, this new life was not going to be an easy one. The father seemed to understand this, and hurriedly tried to break the tension that was forming.

"Hey... why don't you two kids go out and meet the other kids in the neighbourhood? There are tons of 'em around here." Kumatsurou was only too happy to oblige, dragging Toushirou out behind him, who was sending death glares at the woman's back, as she turned to face her husband, as if enquiring where he had found these two pathetic kids. "Well, that was a nice meeting, we should have a lot of fun with those two boys." The man remarked, seemingly oblivious to the battle that had just gone on in the living room.

Outside, Toushirou launched into a tirade about the tiresome woman who had adopted them, while Kumatsurou sat silently, listening to him as he fingered a small locket that he kept around his neck. "…can't believe she wants us to call her Okaa-sama, I mean, what sort of person calls their mother that! What a friggin…" He noticed his brother's action for the first time. "What's that Kumatsurou?"

His brother looked up as he answered. "This…? It's just, the locket that Okaa-san gave me ages ago, you lost yours, remember?" Toushirou scowled and shrugged. Kumatsurou sat still. It was obvious he missed their real mother. He was about to continue when they were heralded by a loud voice.

"Hey there, you two new around here?" Motioning for Kumatsurou to be quiet, Toushirou turned to face the owner of the foghorn voice. It belonged to quite a sturdy lad, who was glaring menacingly at the twins, but Toushirou didn't even blink, he returned the stare equally as forcefully. He was surrounded by a group of thugs roughly the same size as he was. "Just a word of advice, kiddies, don't upset Jimekko. I don't like pansies who play around with their jewellery either." He added, smirking at Kumatsurou, who still held the locket tightly in his hand.

"Well, no one asked you, did they, Foghorn?" There was an audible gasp from Jimekko's gang as Toushirou challenged him. His face drained slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Lucky for you you're such a squirt, or I might actually consider beating you up for that. Just remember, stay out of my way!" With those kind words of introduction, Jimekko and co. left the twins alone, and went off to find some other poor soul to 'welcome'.

A voice came from behind the Hitsugaya's, filled with awe and admiration. "Y-y-you stood up to J-J-Jimekko? Wow, you must be t-t-tough!" The speaker was a lanky kid, a good two heads taller than Toushirou, but he wore a dull expression that showed he was plainly terrified of Jimekko and his gang. "H-h-hey there, I'm Hiroshi. N-n-nice to meet you." He bowed slightly.

Toushirou scowled and turned away. "Why the hell are you bowing? I'm younger than you are, and not like I'm royalty or anything." Kumatsurou took the opportunity at his brother's silence to recompose himself.

"Hey! I'm Hitsugaya Kumatsurou, and Toushirou's my twin brother. And don't mind him, he's always cranky about something." Toushirou stared incredulously at his brother and cocked one eyebrow.

"I am not."

"Yes you are, so anyway Hiroshi, do Jimekko and his friends always harass the kids around here?"

"Y-y-yeah, everyone's dead s-s-scared of them. Except for T-T-Toushirou-san." Toushirou rolled his eyes as he grabbed Kumatsurou's arm.

"Come on, we'd better get back home before Okaa-sama thinks we got killed and throws a party." There was no mistaking the contempt in his voice as he spoke the woman's title, and even Kumatsurou understood what his brother was feeling.

"Alright then Nii-san. See ya later Hiroshi!" Kumatsurou waved at the stutterer as the two of them returned home.

The pair was met by a dignified but inwardly seething woman. "Where… were… you? You… have… been… out… all… afternoon…" Each word was delivered with precision, and slowly, as if drawing out the torture of the guilt she was trying to impose on her foster sons.

"Meeting the other neighbourhood kids. Otou-san said we ought to." Toushirou didn't look at her as he replied, simply taking off his coat and dumping it on a chair, just like he had always done when he was alive. Kumatsurou was about to follow suit when their mother's voice interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Toushirou, but I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave your belongings all over the house in such disarray. Kindly take it up to your room. In your long absence, I prepared the spare room for you and your brother. I'm sure you'll find it quite satisfactory." Kumatsurou wasn't sure which look contained more hatred and anger, his brother's or his mother's. After the staring contest ended, Toushirou grabbed his coat and went up to the room, without a word, but a scowl on his face, even deeper than usual. Kumatsurou followed him silently.

When the boys opened the door to the room, their thoughts were exactly the same. It looks like a prison cell… There were two beds, one on either side of the room, and a window in between. The floor was uncarpeted, and the walls were grey and blank. On each side there was also a desk, with minimal stationery and piles of homework. While the furniture itself wasn't bad, it was dull, and just contributed to the prison feeling. Kumatsurou sighed as he went to look out of the window. It looked out onto a field, the field that he and Toushirou had met their father. He turned and saw his brother inwardly cursing the woman who was to take care of them in this life. There was certainly no love there. Sighing, he lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. This is going to be a hard life.

Several months passed, and the situation was no different. The twins' new mother was a slavedriver, and piled the work onto her two boys. Luckily, they were geniuses after all, and managed to finish all that was offered, but there was no pleasing her. Even when Kumatsurou was unofficially announced as the fastestrunner in the entire 39th District, she was no more attached to him than before. While Kumatsurou accepted this reality silently, he found refuge from his hard life at home from the friends he had made in the 39th District. Hiroshi had introduced the inquisitive Kumatsurou to a variety of kids in the neighbourhood, and whenever he was away from the hellhole he was forced to call home, he spent his time in the company of his friends, significantly happier than when he was at home. Toushirou, however, wasn't quite as social-orientated. Although he often accompanied his brother, he never actually bothered to bond with the other kids. It was this that eventually led him to run away.

It was a morning, just like any other, and Kumatsurou woke up to find that Toushirou wasn't in bed. This was no unusual occurrence, for the boy genius often woke up early to escape the wrath of the woman they called "Okaa-sama", but when Kumatsurou couldn't find him after an hour of searching, he returned to his room confused. On his desk was a neatly folded piece of paper, that was addressed to him. "Nii-san…?" Opening it, he read its contents.

Dear Kumatsurou,

I am writing this to tell you what I'm sure you already realised over these few months. I CAN'T live with that woman. She is the living incarnate of the devil, or something worse. I am sorry for what I have done, but I just couldn't stand one more minute of living under the same roof as her. She has made my life hell, and I couldn't go to my friends for refuge, like you did. Tell Hiroshi and the others I'm truly sorry, and I hope I'll see you again.

Hitsugaya Toushirou

Kumatsurou was rooted to the spot, the letter held limply in his hand. His brother… was gone. Walking over to the window, he looked back out to the large grassy field that stood on the outskirts of town. A tear dropped from his eye as he imagined a short, spiky white-haired boy running across the field, trying to escape the wrath of one woman. Sayounara, Nii-san.

Stuff: Well, there's the second part, and so ends the "Prologue". Wanted to put the two up together, but didn't know if I'd get enough time to do it at once. As it turns out, I did... Reviews and stuff welcome as usual...