Twelve Days of Siblings
Title: Calling
Summary Toshiro gets called on his Soul phone.
Notes: In this one the final arc hasn't occurred. Contains spoilers for chapter 520.
Calling
A soft snow fell outside of the tenth division window. The small taicho sat at his desk leaning on one arm. Paperwork had been forgotten as he sank into a peaceful bliss and the corner of his mouth was twisted up slightly as he relaxed. The peace broke as his soul phone went off and his mouth twisted back down into a frown. "Hello?"
The sound of breathing greeted him before a clicking sound was heard. Toshiro found himself blinking a couple of times. A few days passed and he found himself in the training hall of the tenth division. Each swing of the kendo sword swung down with a resounding swish. The sun shown through the windows into the room as the sun began to rise, hitting the snow upon the windowsill.
His frustrations from the day before slowly melted away, only to have his concentration be broken by his soul phone ringing. He picked the phone up from the side of the room, only to hear the breathing again. The person remained on the phone longer before he headed towards the door, pulling the black part of his uniform back on and then his haori.
Toshiro stepped into the office. His teal eyes glanced over to see that Rangiku wasn't in the room. He then headed back towards the area of the quarters. Letting out a deep sigh, he knocked on Rangiku's door. A rather groggy muttering sound came from the other side of the door. The busty woman opened the door. He held up his soul phone to her face. "Matsumoto, did you call my phone while I was in the training facility."
The woman narrowed her eyes at the phone. She then took it from him and fiddled with it, before spinning it around so that he could see the screen. "You just had to check the call log."
"I hadn't thought about that." The boy frowned at her before taking the phone away.
"That's the only reason why you woke me up this early in the morning?" Rangiku let out a deep yawn.
"So you have any idea who could be calling me and then hanging up before they say anything?" Toshiro looked at her, frowning as he did.
Rangiku in turn frowned. "I honestly don't know. Perhaps it was just a one time prank call?"
"Yeah, but this is the second time its occurred. It happened a couple of days ago." Toshiro glanced at his phone. "It's the same number as well and I don't recognize it."
"Let me know if it occurs again. I mean I want to know if someone continues to prank call you." The woman began to rub her eyes.
"I'll let you get back to sleep. Sorry for waking you." The small taicho turned around, only to have Rangiku speak up.
"Don't you need me to come in and work in the office?" Rangiku blinked a couple of times.
"Sure... get in when your ready."
M
A few days later another call came, but this time there was no silence after Toshiro greeted the person. A female voice spoke up, "I see dead people."
"Excuse me?" Toshiro found his eyebrow's narrowing before he hung up the phone. He made to set the phone down next to his bed, only to have it ring again. He picked it up. "I don't think you're joke was funny."
"The line was from a movie called the Sixth Sense. Haven't you ever seen it? It is a really good movie."
Two bright teal eyes suddenly blinked at a rapid fire rate. "I... I'm not understanding why this conversation suddenly has switched to movies. I mean, you were prank calling me, weren't you?"
"No." The female spoke up again. "I've been wanting to talk to you for some time, but I couldn't say anything the last two times I called. I thought I'd start with a joke. You know... you're a shinigami and your a dead spirit but I can see you."
"This wouldn't happen to be Kurosaki Karin? Because this is a bad joke."
"Who? You really need to watch the movie to understand the joke. It's a really good movie."
"You've said that twice already. Who are you?"
"I have to go. I'll call you again sometime." The phone then clicked off. Toshiro let out a deep sigh, before setting the phone down and going to sleep.
M
The next time his phone rang it was at the most inopportune time. The small taicho was in the middle of a meeting when the phone went off. He blinked a couple of times in confusion. Yamamotto rose an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you have that switched off during a meeting Hitsugaya Taicho?"
"My division members know that I am at a captain's meeting. I don't know who could be calling me." Toshiro took a deep breath though, remembering that he had received the calls from someone he didn't know who possibly didn't know he was in a meeting. He began to fidget until the meeting let out. He then hurried to a quiet place and flipped open his phone and dialed the number.
Instead of getting a female voice, he found himself hearing a male voice. "Who is this?"
"Hitsugaya Toshiro, taicho of the tenth division of the gotei thirteen."
There was a period of silence before the person spoke up. "How did you get this number?"
"Someone called my using said number."
"Don't call this number again. In fact, don't talk to her ever again" The phone clicked off and Toshiro blinked a couple of times. He flipped the lid shut and looked up in order to head back to his division, when he saw the taicho of the thirteenth division.
"It isn't usual for you to behave like you did during the captain's meeting. Who was the phone call from?"
The small taicho glanced away. "I don't know. Someone's been randomly calling me."
"Randomly calling you? Don't you realize that isn't a good thing?" Ukitake's face twisted up in concern.
"Yeah... I think I can handle the situation on my own. I'm not worried about it." The small boy glanced at his phone. "Plus... I think it is going to be over."
Toshiro watched as the man looked at him for a few more minutes before letting out a deep sigh. "If you're sure. Just know if you need any help you can come see me."
"I know." The small taicho headed back to do his office work and eventually found himself heading back to bed, when the phone rang. It was from a number he didn't recognize, but he picked it up despite the fact.
"It's me..."
"You're calling from a different number." The small boy took out a deep breath.
"That's because my uncle won't let me call you using his phone."
"I see..." Toshiro narrowed his eyes before leaning against the wall. "I don't think your uncle likes me. He said I wasn't supposed to call or talk to you again."
"Uncle doesn't hate you. He's just... trying to protect you. Technically, I wasn't supposed to call you in the first place, but I really wanted to speak with, considering the fact you're..." There was a sudden silence. "I have to go."
"But... you..." Toshiro heard the phone click off.
M
A few days later he received a call while eating his lunch at his desk. "Hello?"
"Hi. Where did our conversation leave off?" The female voice asked.
Toshiro glanced up to see his fukutaicho sitting at her desk. He stood up and left the room. "You were going to tell me why it was so important to speak to me despite the fact you've been ordered not to."
"Because... you're my twin brother."
The small taicho blinked a couple of times. "Is this a joke?"
"No! I actually am your twin..."
"Is this some sick kind of joke?" Toshiro felt his throat tightening. "I died and came to Soul Society. I don't have any blood family." He found himself suddenly hanging up on the person, his teeth gritting together. For some reason he found his eyes watering a bit and he reached up to rub his eyes. It's a bit windy today."
He headed back to the office and sat down to finish his meal. A soft voice came to his ears. "Are you all right taicho."
He paused for a few minutes. "She told me that if someone prank called me I should tell her. But... this really hurt." The small taicho put a smile on his face and looked up at her. "I'm doing fine."
M
A few days later Toshiro got a call. The number was from the same one as before. He took a deep breath and picked up the phone. "I really don't want to talk to you."
"I'm surprised that you didn't block this number."
"I figured that you would have just found another phone to call from like you did before." Toshiro took a deep breath. "As I said already, I don't want to talk to you."
"Because you think I'm lying about us being twins"
"I told you before, I died and came to Soul Society. The subject of blood family is a sore subject and I don't like people playing this kind of joke on me."
"Please! Don't hang up!"
"What, do you have actual proof?" Toshiro snapped the words out.
"We have the same birthday, December 20th."
"You somehow managed to get this phone number, so you could have gotten that information to." There came a period of silence and he let out a deep sigh. "Look, I'll just hang up if you can't..."
"Wait... please don't hang up! I know I can't give you proof but I really want to talk to you."
Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "You can't call me during captain's meetings."
"If I call you at bed time I'm likely to get caught. And you can't call me either."
"Then call me when you can. If my phone is shut off, it is because I can't speak to you.." Toshiro stated.
"I have to go... I'll speak to you later."
M
Every so often another phone call would come. Sometimes Toshiro would find himself able to answer the phone, but other times he was able to answer. Not much was talked about, the female tended to be as annoying as Rangiku at times, talking about fashion and popular culture trends from the world of the living. He didn't understand a lot about what she said as she also tended to speak at a fast rate.
About a month before the Quincy attacked Soul Society, the phone calls stopped. Toshiro found himself irritated that they stopped, but soon forgot that they were in fact occurring. The war came and his mind focused elsewhere, but then the war ended and he began to think of the coincidence that had occurred. He found himself heading to a captain's meeting.
His hand brushed against his soul phone. "She hasn't called for some time."
"It was a bit before the attack came that she stopped."
"You think that she is a Quincy?" Toshiro didn't push the thought as he headed in. He stood in line and pulled his arms behind his back.
Kyoraku spoke up at the head of the group. "The forty-six are discussing what is to become
"Some of the prisoners a children, including one of the Stern Ritter." The seventh division taicho's voice boomed out of the meeting hall.
Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "If she is one of the Quincy... then..."
"The forty-six doesn't care they are children."
Ukitake spoke up, his voice straining. "So, we would condemn children to death?"
"Not that I care." Mayuri stated. He glanced around, looking at the other captains. "All right, so all of the other captains would in fact take issue with this."
"Then I can proceed in speaking to the forty-six to see if I can't get a pardon for the children. I can point out the fact that we are more then willing to go against their judgment as well?"
A few of the captains suddenly turned to look at the small taicho. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Kyoraku tilted his hat. "How do you feel about all of this?"
"If you're asking me if I'll join the rest of you, this won't be a problem." The captains still stared at him and he began to fidget again, his mind wandering off to the idea that his sister was among the group. He lest out a deep sigh. "I died on plain of ice. I wasn't born in Soul Society. I shouldn't have any siblings."
"But something is causing you to no longer believe this."
M
A few days later Toshiro headed to captain Ukitake's office. He knocked on the door and he went in. "Can I speak with you... privately?"
The older captain stared for a few minutes, then waved Rukia and the others out of the room. "This wouldn't happen to have something to do with what was upsetting you at the captains meeting Shiro-chan?"
"It was that obvious?" The boy frowned, before folding his arms across his chest.
"Are you feeling well. I mean, I know that the idea of killing children sickens me."
"It's not that." Toshiro glanced away. "Remember how awhile back I said I was getting calls from someone, but I didn't know who they were?"
"Is that occurring again?" Ukitake's mouth creased with worry lines.
"They haven't called for a month roughly."
"A month..." The man took a deep breath. "Hitsugaya Taicho, you told me that it was going to be over."
"I thought it was going to be over because the man told me that I wasn't to talk to her again. I'd called the number that day, but she switched to another phone."
"A girlfriend then?"
"No... I've never actually seen her face. She just... randomly started calling me every two to three days. She said..." Toshiro paused, before fidgeting again where he sat. "I guess I should bring up the fact I died on a plain of ice and came to soul society."
"You've told me that a few times." Ukitake frowned at the small child. "What does this have to do with anything."
"Well... my inner world is in fact a plain of ice, so it is entirely possible for me not to remember this stuff correctly. So, it is possible that I could have been born in Soul Society. But my being born in Soul Society doesn't explain..." Toshiro paused. "The person who called me claimed that they were my twin sister."
"How do you know she isn't lying to you, this person?"
"The thing is I don't know if she is telling me the truth or not." A small hand started to tap the mat in front of him. "But... for some reason I found myself questioning if I really had died on a plain of ice. I mean..."
Ukitake watched as the boy suddenly paused. "... you're referring to the fact your inner world is a plain of ice. You're thinking that you could have mistaken your inner world for the place you died."
"But that still doesn't explain how..." The boy began to fidget in his shoulder area before glancing down at the ground. "That doesn't explain how I came to be in Soul Society, or she among the Quincy."
The older taicho blinked once. "You mean... well, I understand what you mean. I..." There came silence between the two of them. After a bit the man spoke again. "Are you at all worried that you will be labeled a traitor because of your bloodline? Ichigo is also a half-breed between the two and in truth the Quincy and the Shinigami used to be one group. So you need not worry about that."
"Actually, I hadn't thought of it that far. I was just... wondering how we came to be separated."
"If what she told you is true." Ukitake frowned. "You don't happen to think that she is among the children?"
Toshiro swallowed hard. "Yes. I am actually."
"I'll speak to Kyoraku..."
"Don't! I don't want him to worry about this. I mean, he's worried enough about preventing the children from being executed."
Ukitake watched as the boy hung his head. "Why don't you take some time off until the decision is made?"
Toshiro opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut. "Until a decision is made about the children, but not the others."
"Why is that important?"
"I may have family members among the adults."
"You don't have to think about that if you don't want to."
"Except she spoke about an uncle." Toshiro frowned.
"I'll find out what I can." Ukitake smiled at the small boy.
"You don't have to."
"No, but you'll be fretting about it if I don't."
M
A few days later, Ukitake came into the room. "A decision has been made and Kyoraku told me to pass the word on to you."
"I thought you weren't going to tell him." Toshiro stated, blinking a couple of times. A raised eyebrow however caused him to shrink back.
"The forty-six is still going over the cases of the adults, but the children are not to even be considered war criminals. They've been released into the care of the seventh division and we'll be working on finding homes for them, some of which we hope will be temporary. Some won't be as we've found that some of them are orphans. Do you wish to come with me in order to try and find your sister?"
"I... if she exists, then yes. I do want to find her." Toshiro nodded his head at the man and he found himself headed to the seventh division. He blinked a couple of times upon seeing the seventh division taicho surounded by many of the Quincy children. He felt the corner of his mouth move. "Why do I get the idea that the seventh division captain is going to want to take some of them in as his own?"
"Yes... well. I'm not sure which one is your sister. I've learned their names and who they were among the Quincy, but that is about it."
"I'll recognize her voice." The small taicho sat down nearby and watched the children.
A dark haired girl suddenly glanced up, before speaking in a nasty tone, her nose wrinkling up. "What are you looking at."
"I'm not..." Toshiro paused, blinking a couple of times. "So... you don't know who I am."
"Obviously you're one of the taicho. I couldn't care less. Actually... I don't want anything to do with you."
"Yeah..." The small taicho felt himself pulled back.
"Don't. Her attitude is a bit... problematic, though... well, never mind."
"She's the one who called me." Toshiro frowned.
"Are you sure, I mean..." Ukitake paused, a frown spreading on his face.
The boy pulled his lips together. "They haven't had a chance to be near the phones, have they?"
"Well..." The older taicho paused. "They don't seem to trust anyone outside of the seventh division at this point." Ukitake then went over to the seventh division captain and whispered into his good ear. The other taicho shook his head, but then let out a deep sigh. The taicho of the thirteenth division headed back to the tenth division. "Stick around. We'll see if your idea works."
Toshiro began to pace and he knew that the girl was speaking about him with the other children and he received a few looks that made him feel uncomfortable. He watched as the seventh division taicho pretended to lose his phone. The dark haired female went for the phone quickly. One of the other Quincy children spoke up. "What do you need a phone for? There isn't anyone for us."
"I'm calling my brother."
"You don't have a..." The comment was interupted by a nasty glare.
"He was raised among the shinigami." The girl stated, dialing a number she memorized. The phone rang.
Toshiro quickly picked up his own phone. "Hello?"
"Hi... I know its been a month since we last spoke."
"I know that as well. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. I'm... I know that there is no way that I can prove to you that I'm your sibling, your twin... but..."
"But what?"
"... I need to be truthful with you about something."
"You mean about the fact you are a Quincy?"
"How did you know?" The look of surprise caused her head to dart up.
"Your calls stopped a month before we were attacked."
"You don't hate me for that?"
"No... both sides lost people they cared for, did they not?"
"Yes... but..." Toshiro watched the female carefully as she started to pace.
"The shinigami are going to find temporary families for us, but I was hoping I could come and stay with you and who ever has been taking care of you?"
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind, though for the most part I take care of myself. I like the idea of being a family."
"So... when do I get to see you?"
The small taicho let out a deep sigh. "You've already seen me."
"What do you mean?" The girl blinked a couple of times.
"Take a good look around." Toshiro looked over and watched as she looked around. She suddenly saw him on his phone. She simple stared at him, a look of surprise on her face. The others started speaking with her, the females gossiping. He felt his stomach lurch and the stares from the other children caused him to glance away. He didn't realize that a hurt look had passed his face.
"Hitsugaya Taicho..." Ukitake's mouth twisted up into a frown.
"I'm fine." The white haired child's throat tightened. He began to walk off.
Something though tackled him from behind. "Toto-chan?"
"Toto-chan?" The older taicho's mouth twitched at the sudden surprise.
"Good god..." Toshiro felt his cheek twitch and the palms of his hands scraped up. "You're worse then my fukutaicho." As he tried to sit up, he felt the girl's arms wrap around his neck and her cheek press against his. The cogs in his mind began to think. "If you are my twin sister, then you must know who are parents are."
"No... I've only met uncle and grandfather. Grandfather is dead and I don't know if their going to let uncle live." The girl remained silent for a bit. "Uncle may know who they are."
M
Toshiro excused himself from the Quincy, only to find Bambietta following behind him with a smile on his face. "I really need to get to work."
"Yeah, but you said we can be a family."
"Yes... but I need to make sure that you have a room prepared at the..."
"We can share a room."
Toshiro felt his eye twitch. "Aren't we a bit old for that?"
"Of course not!"
Toshiro found himself letting out a deep sigh. He opened up his office door and headed over to his desk to finish his paper work. Bambietta suddenly glomped him from behind. Rangiku looked up. "Taicho, who is your friend."
"Umm..." The small taicho glanced up, his bright teal eyes blinking a couple of times. The look on his fukutaicho's face seemed a bit green.
"I thought..." There was a pause in what the woman said. "I thought you had a crush on Karin-chan, so why are you taking yourself a girlfriend?"
Bambietta bubbled over, her voice suddenly becoming high pitched. "Toto-chan's got a crush on someone?"
"Taicho..." Rangiku frowned.
"I'll be frank with you Matsumoto... she's..."
"His twin sister!" Bambietta blurted out.
The busty female blinked a couple of times. "Taicho... I thought you died and came to soul society."
"We were born here. Uncle said he tried bringing all of us back, but was only able to bring me home. Well... I guess this is home now."
Rangiku took a deep breath and buried her face into her work. Toshiro found himself struggling to get things done.
M
A few weeks later he was in a captain's meeting to hear the fate of the adults that were left. Kyoraku tipped his hat. "The forty-six has decided that they will pardon most of the Quincy, though some are deemed to be a danger due to their personality. They will need help ingratiating in. Well, some are already trained with shinigami powers, but they need people to help them make friends."
Toshiro let out a deep sigh and a bit later they were released. Ukitake tapped the small taicho. "Hitsugaya, would you like to meet your uncle? He has... some information he's shared with me that I think you need to know. Actually, I think you'll recognize him, so be prepared to still yourself. I would also like your sister and your fukutaicho to come."
"All right." The small taicho frowned, before heading with the captain to the thirteenth division. They headed to the tea room, and the small taicho flinched. He recognized the man sitting on the cushion as the person he and Matsumoto fought when the previous head taicho died. "You are..."
The man raised an eyebrow. "You are a bit surprised, but I honestly can't blame you."
"Your... your voice." Toshiro felt himself suddenly sitting down on the cushion across from the man. "Why didn't I recognize it before?"
The man took a deep breath. "You're mind wanders like your father's."
"And who was he?" Toshiro asked.
The man kept his eyes narrowed. "Do you know who I am Toshiro? The older captain's know already."
"I know you're one of the Stern Ritter."
"I guess it is better to ask if you understand who you are in relation to the Quincy. You know of our former leader."
Toshiro fidgeted slightly. "I don't really want to talk to him." He fidgeted a bit more. "Well, I've had someone reference someone by a rank they no longer have before."
The corner of the man's mouth turned up. "I referred to him as our former leader. I don't blame you for not talking about him as I'm honestly not fond of him despite my... our actual relationship to him. However, eventually you're going to find out about this relationship. I'm surprised that Bambietta hasn't said anything."
"She may have said something hinting at it, but she tends to... she likes to talk about girly stuff." The small taicho found his own mouth twisting up.
"Has she mentioned anything about other family members?"
"I'm mostly interested in our father and mother, but she did mention the fact..." Toshiro swallowed as realization hit him. "She said our grandfather was dead." He then fidgeted slightly just as Rangiku came into the room with Bambietta. "You mean our grandfather is... was the leader of the Vandenreich."
"He was." Bambietta spoke up.
Rangiku suddenly flinched while Toshiro shook his head. "I'm not liking this."
"I don't blame you," the man said.
"I'm sorry, but you expect taicho to be happy about this news? I mean..." The busty female found herself interupted.
"You don't recognize me, do you."
"Why should she..." Toshiro found himself interrupted this time.
"What if I were to tell you that your father is a man you know as Ichimaru Gin?"
Ukitake placed a hand behind the back of his head. "Now, now, there needs to be more tack."
"Whose Ichimaru Gin?" Bambietta blurted out. She then frowned, noting the looks on the tenth division members. "Did I say something wrong?"
"I don't remember..." Rangiku's mouth moved, only to snap shut, shaking her head back and forth. "Taicho, I'm sorry."
"Don't... amnesia is amnesia. You can't do anything about it." Toshiro glanced at the tea that was now being served. "I don't think I want to know more at this point."
"Am I missing something?" Bambietta asked.
"Matsumoto Rangiku's our mother." The small taicho stated.
"But then where is our father?" The female meant to say something, but found a small hand clamped over her mouth.
"Tai... Toshiro, it's all right." Rangiku swallowed. "Your father died about a year or two ago. He..."
Their uncle spoke up. "Bambietta, your mother needs to think about some things. Be polite."