Hey people :D Thank you for all the ones following this story. As for the posting, well, today? Just got back to the university. I have the entire ending planed out and I am working on it. I am doing my best to post the chapters as fast as possible, even if naturally it could go faster. I just have, you know, classes. Boring stuff I have to do to get a job.
Disclaim: All credit of the original manga belongs to Tite Kubo.
Please bear with my many mistakes. I wanted to just post even if I haven't work that well with the text.
Chapter 22 : Lock up
He didn't look at her when he left. He knew he probably wouldn't see her in a long time, but he could only feel relieved. He was mad at her. Was his mother that selfish that she would want to destroy the only natural and nice relationship he had with anyone older than himself in soul society and that wasn't his actual family? That must be what she was trying to archive. He left everything like he found it, placed everything back as he had left them the first time around. And this time he had a feeling he would never come back. He didn't mind though. Sooner or later his entire family would make it beyond this simple world and nothing here would matter. He did take a picture of his sister and friend with him in case he found them in Soul society.
As Renji and himself made their way through the portal, Ryuu figured he had been quiet enough. Nothing to do with the fact that he really wanted to know.
"Did you know," he asked his uncle that was respecting his silence. The older man's eyes never strayed from the path. "That the earth is round?" Renji didn't give him more information but that was confirmation enough. It was said in a playful way but lacked the usual idiotic touche his uncle usually displayed. That made him wonder if his mother had lied to him too or if Renji knew for a fact that his mother was lying to him. Ryuu felt sick when an idea struck him. What if his mother was only trying to be kind. His dad being dead, she didn't want to say that and instead said something so hurtful. They stood before the first squad before he knew it.
Ryuu had never set foot in this room, this being the room only very high ranked officers could step into. The captains were all lined up on either side of the room, positioned in function of their squad number. Their imposing feature made the child slightly shaky, not that he would ever admit that. He looked toward the man in the chair sitting as if bored and behind him the ever present vice captain.
"Head captain," said Renji as they approached.
"You are after schedule," said the man as a response. "So how was the mission to the world of the living?"
"He has had no outbursts but his energy is still out of control. I don't think it did any changes to him."
"On the contrary," said the 12th squad captain whose name Ryuu never got. He was way to creepy for him to even go near. The older man gave sign for him to continue. "As we have been closely monitoring his energy level as well as heartbeat, we have noticed that even though it may seem like his energy is the same, it is more stable than when he left. Yet it remains to say if it stays so. Other, we have noticed that his heartbeat (Do souls have a heartbeat?) has decreased from the moment he had his last outburst. It beats half as fast as before. So if you would just let me," he trailed off before Captain Kurosaki screamed "Out of the question." Whatever that was about.
Ryuu thought about his dream like vision. Well he wasn't really sure as to what it was considering he just had a feeling of sleeping. But if that was the case: why did everything the man say feel like it was coming true. Anyway, maybe his heart was decreasing because his entire body was slowly freezing. Would that even be possible?
When his uncle poked him in the shoulder, his head shot up. Only to have all the captains stare at him, some with kind eyes, other with interested, or even some with discuss.
"I asked if you feel any different?"
"Euh," he looked at his uncle for confirmation that he was indeed been asked a question. Only when his uncle raised an eyebrow did he dare speak. "Well, less stressed?" The man the child only had seen twice in his years in the Seireitei smiled fondly.
"Don't we all after a vacation."
Ryuu could feel his skin freezing and placed a hand over his stomach before opting not to tell. He would, after he had found his other zanpakuto, if he ever found it that is. He just listen to the older ones, who fought for the time to speak more often than the time they actually talked about something interesting. Back and forth went the discussion were Ryuu could barely understand what they were talking about. The head captain must have noticed.
"Okey, please be silent for a few moments so this little one can leave." One would have guessed that the silence would be imminent, but no, they actually had to wait. "Captain Abarai, little Ryuu here has his things with you, does he not?"
"Yes, sir." His uncle straighten up immediately.
"Good. Captain Hitsugaya." Ryuu didn't know why, but he suddenly felt sick hearing that name. What if? "Please send all reports and achievements concerning Ryuu to the third squad as he will be staying there for a moment. Ryuu," said the man now turning to him. "You don't mind staying with captain Abarai, do you?" The youngest could only nod. Did he honestly think that he would refuse anything this man said?
"Perfect," continued the head captain, "captain Abarai you may take Ryuu to your squad. Please return as fast as possible. You may leave."
And with that his uncle turned around, leaving Ryuu confused and running after him. He could hear the laughter in the back, not that he cared.
"What exactly were they talking about," asked Ryuu when they two of them were making their way down one of the alleys.
"Huh? Oh, yes, euh~. Oh, yes, your stay, in the Seireitei. Nothing special really. Just some rambling about what you are capable off and what we shouldn't do and other, euh, captain stuff." Suddenly he stopped in the streets and came to Ryuu's level. "If there was something off, you would tell me right?" Ryuu only looked him straight in the eyes. Don't lie or lie? That was a very difficult question. His uncle turned away before he could decide.
The 3rd squad was the same as always. How a captain could just up and leave for two month straight was beyond him but yet, the squad seem to be in perfect shape. Well, everything is relative now. He still had his spot that he occupied before leaving. Having only stayed a short while there before, he didn't know anyone especially, but they all seem nice and welcoming.
"Oh and there is one last thing before I leave you," said Renji about to go back where he came from, "under no circumstances are you aloud to leave the compound without someone I, or the one I trust, trusts. Is that understood." Ryuu took some times to process what had been said. He was not aloud to leave the 3rd squad alone. He nodded before really understanding what his uncle said, as he seem to want to leave as fast as possible. Rethinking about it afterwards, he wanted to hide under the covers of his bed. He just agreed to be stuck in one place forever. Well for now anyway.
Being back wasn't special. Well this place was new, but other than that he felt like he was just back from an average vacation. That night, the only thing he thought about was his mother and what she had said. Yes, the father part was annoying him without stop, but the part about his missing zanpakuto was way worse. He wasn't an idiot per say and knew for a fact that losing a part of your soul was not good. Not good at all. Coming to the conclusion that only Matsumoto could help him out, he managed to sneak out of the squad the next day. Could have something to do that the ones holding guard probably didn't know about the restriction.
...
The dreaded day came again, as it did each year. True enough, Toshiro would be more afraid if it didn't come again. As the clock was nearing seven in the morning he was already behind his desk filling out papers upon papers. The fact that Ryuu wasn't with them this years meant that he didn't have anything to think about else than paperwork. Ryuu had been keeping him company those days simply because in the child's mind when the post 'Do Not Disturb' was hanging on the door, Ryuu could naturally come in without disturbing anyone.
He was expecting the knocking on the door that came around 7 o'clock as he had been used to it. But then he had to refrain from believing anyone would actually come knock on his door now that the child was restricted to the 3rd squad only. Imagine his surprise when someone did knock on his door. Having all the intention to snap at whoever shows up, he had to blink multiple times when the black hair of Ryuu came through the door. Yes, Toshiro could have said something like 'Welcome back', or 'how was your trip'. He just had to opted for:
"What exactly are you doing here?" The child seem to be caught in the middle of an act. His brows were raised as if surprised to find the captain there.
"What are you doing here," asked the child. They stared at each other a moment before the stoic captain gave in.
"What are you doing here, Ryuu," he sight.
"Well, you see," the boy started looking very unsure and scratching the back of his head before pulling both his arms behind his back. "How are you doing captain?" Sighting again, Toshiro only returned to his paperwork.
"What do you want Ryuu?" There was no dragging of chairs like there used to be, no movement whatsoever. The child just stood there looking at him with a strange expression on his face. He looked like he was weighing his options. "Yes?" he said again looking at the child. "Is there an actual reason for you standing in my office?" Thinking about it he shouldn't even be here. "Aren't you restricted to the third squad?"
Nothing seem to be making the child answer. When he was about to continue with what he was doing, Ryuu finally snapped out of his trance.
"I don't know yet, I don't think it's permanent." Well, Hitsugaya knew for a fact that his stay in the third was permanent, or he wouldn't use his time, or the time of his underlings, to deliver all of Ryuu's information to the third.
"Captain, I wanted to ask you, did you know my mother?" Was that why the boy was standing so uncomfortably in front of him? The way he asked it could be innocent hadn't it been for the underlying meaning in his stare that told him Ryuu already knew. He put his pen down at the question.
"Indeed, I did."
"Did? She is not dead captain." The child looked like he was playing a game. Even if over the years Ryuu had never gotten the same traits he had back in the world of the living the first time Hitsugaya met him, Ryuu had gotten some of his sharpness back. He wasn't as innocent as most people thought. Toshiro having been treated in a similar way, knew only too well.
"I haven't seen her in a long time," he opted saying. He didn't know what Ryuu exactly was fishing for, but playing games like these had always got him angered. "Either way, she is a Kurosaki. Everyone knows the Kurosaki's."
"I know, I've asked. But they all said that if I needed any information on her, I should come and ask you."
"Why would you even want to know anything about your own mother," he asked suspiciously. Hadn't he been staying with her for the last months.
"Did you know her well?" Toshiro had a faint idea what he was looking for. Maybe confirmation on his mother's tale. He wanted to ask this person what exactly she had said. Did she still think of him? Or maybe she was hating him for what he did. He knew it was selfish and remorse had been following him since.
"Depends," he answered warily.
"Do you know about her zanpakuto?" Definitely not the question he was expecting.
"You don't?"
"No I don't. She really talks about the past." He wanted to smile about that. Of course she didn't.
"That can be understandable," he muttered under his breath, wiping the smallest trace of a smile of his face. "Her zanpakuto is based on the combustion of molecules, like the reaction created in a star. More information than that, you would have to ask her yourself as I don't know much more." Which wasn't a lie since the complexity of her zanpakuto had never really made sense to him. Ryuu seemed satisfied with the answer, but not his visit.
"Did you know my dad?" This time Toshiro momentarily forgot to breath.
"Excuse me," he asked the millisecond after.
"Did you know my dad? Father? I just wanted to know if she was telling the truth." So he was right about the checking facts. Must have been a shock for the poor boy.
"I might have an inkling yes. But it would be improper of me to tell you something your mother hasn't."
"What's he like," the child kept pushing. The enthusiasm noticeable exaggerated.
"You do not want to know. If he is indeed the same person I think, then I don't think you want to know." Polite or selfish, he couldn't really tell what he was.
"But I do. Just one thing. And not about his eyes." Toshiro nearly wanted to say that the bastard was just an eyesore, idiot with no brain, which he knew wasn't true, but the kid surely wanted something to remember his father by. Something positif.
"Well, he was a good soccer player." The kid didn't look very happy about the answer. "I suppose that's what your mother saw in him."
After an awkward silence where the kid just stood there and seem to be thinking about something, Toshiro looked up from his pile of work that he had been starting up again. "Is there anything else I can help you with Ryuu?"
The child looked a bit taken back by the question, but the resolve in his eyes didn't seem to diminish. What now?
"How do you graduated from the academy decide which squad they end up in?" Toshiro stared at him to be sure he wasn't joking.
"Depends on the year you graduate. If the one specific squad has had a major death toll one year, they would obviously be the ones that can pick first and thus many of the graduated ends up in said squad. If this is not the case, filling up the high ranked seats are important so the most prominent will undergo an extra evaluation of their capacity. Any way you would have to pass the exam, either you pass it before the end of the six year or at the end. Your skills would be evaluated and you will be placed first in the squad that needs you, then in the one that prefers you and then lastly you can possibly end up having a say in which squad you want to be in. The last is only for those who are interesting enough to attracted more than one captain. Which you probably would be with your lineage."
Having answered while filling out forms, he stopped when he understood he was babbling. "Why the sudden interest?"
"I've decided," he said standing with the back straight, "that I will enter the academy and graduate to be part of you squad. If you think I'm up for the task that is." He quickly added. Toshiro was certain he had scared the kid away from the academy, at least for a few years. Apparently not.
"What makes you think that would be a wise decision?"
"You don't want me in this squad," he asked back unsure. "Anyway, I don't mind. I'll understand if you don't want me here. Maybe my uncle would take me in? I'm entering the academy."
"Slowly there," he had to cut in. "That is not what I was pointing toward. You have unstable abilities Ryuu. This could cause damage to other student that have either a weaker reistu than you or your energy can end up hurting anyone you might end up sharing a room with. Not to tell the damage it could do to you." The expression on the child was something Hitsugaya could describe in between disgust or anger. He seem to recompose himself before he continued.
"But lieutenant Ise said that it is better for students with great energy to go to the academy since they know how to deal with my problem."
"So is a captain, Ryuu. You have been staying here for eight years. Granted you didn't do much the first five years, but what makes you think you will learn to control your energy in the academy in barely six? Not to say that the students there have only lived their lives on this plane and have learned to adapt to this place. You, on the contrary, have an energy that has been growing in the world of the living. And trust me when I say that no teacher at that academy would know what to do with you. I don't think you realise how much of a mystery you are."
"So you say I should just give up and do what? Be a freeloader, find a place in the rukongai?"
"Ryuu," Hitsugaya had to stop him again. What was making the child so scared? "One, you could never live in the rukongai with that much reitsu. Two, I never said that. I was merely implying that you shouldn't rush to make a decision that could end up putting you and others in danger. Ryuu, have I offended you in anyway?"
"Huh? Offended?"
"You seem to have a problem with me."
"Oh no, that's not it," assured the child, but Toshiro wasn't so sure.
"Anyway, I think you should wait a little before you make any drastic measures."
"Wait for what," said the child with a disapproving face.
"Well for starters, utill we figure out why you have such a different reitsu from most." Ryuu was most definitely not happy about that answer. "It's for your best."
"To be a lab rat?"
"What is wrong with you Kurosakis," he sight. "If your own health doesn't matter to you how about this: you will end up destroying someone else's life."
"I'm not going to kill someone if that is what you think I'm about to do." Well this discussion was going of rail very fast.
"I think you should talk with captain Abarai. If I understood correctly, all decisions have to be passed by him." The child now found his shoes very interesting. "Ryuu, I'm on your side. The problem is that even if you were to start in the academy, such decisions should be passed down to captain Abarai as he is in charge of you now."
"I didn't know I was this much of a burden." Well the time with his mother had at least given him back his mouth. He wanted to just let his head fall flat on the desk, this was going nowhere.
"I am sorry if I am being insensitive here, but my arms are tied and I really have a lot to do."
"No you don't." The child pointed to the stack that was nearly empty. Then looked him back into the eyes, and at his shoes again.
"Matsumoto is coming to hand over the rest soon. I am going to ask this one last time: what is wrong?" This was really starting to get on his nerves. He decided to get back and let the kid stare at his shoes.
"But if I do graduate, would you have me in your squad?"
"Depends on the year and the ones graduating that year."
"And if I graduate early."
"As you are now, no offense, doubtful."
"Are you mad at me?"
"Ryuu," he sight, "you have been staying in my office for half an hour and I still don't understand what you are doing here. Why did Abarai let you walk all the way down here and why?" The child looked at him. "No. I'm not mad at you."
"So, as I was saying, I'll be sure to be the best in my class. Then you'll be interested in me right?"
"Where is all this coming from? I thought you didn't want to rush things and wait for your mentality to stabilize." The kid raised an eyebrow. "You know what I mean."
"When I was home, I noticed all my friends had moved out and lived their own life. I want to be able to live my own life too. I want to be part of a family, if that makes sense?"
"Just assure me you mother isn't the one pushing you to do this." It was far fetched, but to be honest he had no idea how she had evolved after having a child.
"You sure you know my mom?"
"I told you, I haven't exactly seen her in a long time." He forced himself to remain the eye contact and not start thinking about her face, her smile, her.
"No."
He put down his pen again. How many times had he done that since the child came in? "It's just that you could live well enough in the 3rd squad until there is any changes."
"You do realize I feel like a lab rat when you all tell me to stay put and follow orders."
"Don't start the academy if you don't like to be told what to do."
"I mean that I feel like a prisoner with no freedom." The child started moving out.
"Ryuu," Toshiro called him back, "is this really what you want to do?"
"Yes," he stated all doubt in his voice gone.
"I will support you when this discussion comes up then. If," he cut in before the child got any ideas, "you will talk to captain Abarai and let him tell you what he think is best. I'm not finished," he said as the child opened his mouth. "If you do get the permission of the head captain you would need extra help on the side or he would never agree."
"Anything," he said so fast Toshiro barely registered he said it.
"You will report three times a week to me and you are to take seriously the course of meditation. Any breach of this would make you expelled. Do we have an agreement?"
"Wouldn't that make even more work for you," he asked suspiciously.
"Trust me, one captain has to keep you in check. It would be even more work for us if you ended up exploding the academy building. Don't give me that look. Your uncle managed without problem to do so several times."
"So you think I'm as strong as him," grinned Ryuu.
"No," Toshiro pointed at him with his pen, "I think you are just as destructible and unstable."
"Hey, that's not," but he never finished as Matsumoto came barging in with a tower of papers. "Oh," said Ryuu then.
"You didn't believe me, did you?"
"Well." Ryuu looked at the busty woman who nearly walked right into him as she didn't see much over the stack of papers.
"Matsumoto," Toshiro greeted his subordonate, who didn't answer and didn't really seem to know he was there either. "Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku," he tried again. "Matsumoto," he said louder and standing up. However she saw Ryuu first.
"Ryuu," she said a tad too loud for a person that was talking. "How are you?" As the child looked at Toshiro, his subordinate cached on and looked him straight in the eyes. He could look as crossed as he managed, she would still just smile and say, "Hey captain" and continuing ignoring him. She did eventually remove her ear plugs after putting the papers down.
"You look better than before captain."
"What are you doing," he asked instead.
"Giving you your papers, like you asked captain." He was tired. Deciding against a long discussion that would end with her ignoring him anyway, he just sat down and started working. Before remembering Ryuu that was currently fighting to breathe. "We have a deal?"
"What deal," asked Matsumoto letting go of her pray in the same time.
"Thanks," said Ryuu moving away from the lady.
"None of your business," he told her. Then turned his eyes to the young one. "Then to next time. Matsumoto make sure Ryuu gets back safely to the 3rd before captain Abarai notices his absence."
"Yes." Ryuu bowed before going out the door, Matsumoto following close behind. Then she turned around and asked: "Captain, didn't you have a captains meeting today?"
"The head captain wanted to speak with Abarai alone today."
Toshiro felt he could breathe again when they were both gone out of his office. Putting down his pen he went to the window. Nothing out of the ordinary there, yet he felt very unwell. Something was coming, something that would not end well. He could feel it. Taking his zanpakuto, he slipped out the window.
...
As the day was going, Matsumoto couldn't wait to see Ryu again. She knew he should have been back yesterday, but where he was now was another question. She hoped he had changed and maybe taken the news a bit better than what Karin was fearing. Sure, this would be strange, but after all, Ryuu was to live in the 3rd so the captain wasn't going to see him so much.
The 16th of June, the day to keep the captain occupied. She had been assigned to run get the paperwork. Suited her well. As she was running she could stop along the way and hand all her assignment to him. Best day really. When she was last time in the world of the living, Karin had offered her old ear plugs. Some Bluetooth thing to listen to music- Well it worked just as well to shut out all kind of sound too. As she had been waiting the entire day to have Ryuu come visit her, she was surprised when she found him in the office of her captain.
He hadn't changed much. Ryuu was still a sweet kid who looked at the world with wonder. Apart from the fact that he was white as a sheet. He was down the corridor faster than what she would have expected him to be. Well apart from the fact that he was walking in the opposite direction than the exit of the compound.
"Ryuu," she called after him, "where are you going?" he didn't mind her screaming after him and just continued walking toward her room, she noticed. She caught up to him as he stood right outside her chambers.
"Can we speak?" he asked. She had thought for a moment that he was still cute and innocent as he was before leaving, but looking closer into his eyes, she saw the same pain he had when he first left the world of the living: confusion, frustration as much as acceptance and resignation.
"Of course," she simply stated as she opened the door for him. Her room was a mess, as always probably. The child just went to the bed and sat down waiting for her. She couldn't really read his expression of stone, but something was bothering him for sure.
"Who is my father," he asked dead serious. She sat down on the bed beside him.
"Haven't your mother told you?" He looked down at his folded hands, playing with the artefact Karin had asked her to steal from the captain a while back. Well it looked identical anyway.
"No." How had Renji let that one slide? She nearly wanted to ask him if he was sure, but that would be stupid to even ask.
"Then I cannot help you. I've told you before that I would wait for Karin to tell you." He looked up at her again with fire in his eyes, expression of speaking.
"Well she doesn't want to tell me the truth. She invent all these stories around it for me not to pry."
"Exactly how sure are you these are stories?" She raised her eyebrows as she looked at him, refraining from crossing her arms.
"Well for starters, she believes I am stupid enough to believe that captain Hitsugaya is my father," he half screamed. As a reflex she shushed on him. Understanding just what he had said, she stopped in her movement.
"What exactly makes you think she made that up?"
"First of all, Captain Hitsugaya would never break any law." The matter-of-fact face he gave her made her laugh.
"You know that everyone, even someone like the captain, can make mistakes. Or even break the rule if their heart tells them to."
"So you believe her, is what you are saying. You believe that for no other reason, the captain, which if i remember correctly is called the ice captain, is capable of breaking a law for someone like my mother? Not to mention that 'ice' only proves that he doesn't have a heart to follow in the first place."
"I'm aware, having worked with him even before your mother was born. But yes I believe she is telling the truth." The expression on Ryuu's face was priceless, the shock he expressed.
"You cannot be serious. They are nothing alike. As in, in, well, nothing alike. They are more probability for them to kill each other."
"Then I think you don't know either of them very well. They are both so annoyingly stubborn. Not to tell that they both have a thing against lying." She had to say that from a first point of view they could be quiet different, but then again they had a lot in common, like their very persistent honesty. Some things are meant to be packed inn.
"Don't make me laugh," said the child crossing his arms. "My mother is not honest."
"Because she couldn't," she answer as a matter of fact. "Okay listen, I'm not entirely sure I should tell you this but, there was a time when she believed that telling you would be admit to the very stupid mistake she had made in her past. Not that you are a mistake. But as you should have understood by now, the captain doesn't make mistakes. Yet he did back before you were born. I've only recently learned about this too. He was convicted and nearly had to pay with his life. After that, if he didn't want to end up in more problems he had to keep low profile. Exactly how low profile do you think he would be if it was known that he had a son in the world of the living?"
The child was not impressed and his expression didn't falter. "So you are in on it too, is it?"
"Wait what?" She didn't understand why this was so complicated for him to believe. "Why are you so mad?"
"Mad? I have every right to be. You people don't even want to tell me the truth."
"But we are. You are the one that doesn't want to listen. Why do you have such pain to admit it's true. I mean, I thought you liked the captain." This was not at all how she believed Ryuu would take it
"Why do you all have to say that? Yes," he said standing up on the bed, "I like captain Hitsugaya because he seem to understand me. But I," he pointed to himself, "have come to hate my father."
"Ryuu," she tempted to calm him down, "sit down."
"I hate my dad, do you understand? He left my mother. Isn't he supposed to love her? He left her to pay for his mistake. She paid the price." He was screaming now and as she stood up she saw his eyes turning even darker so she sat down again, trying her best to make him understand to keep his voice down.
"But he didn't know, Ryuu. He would have sacrificed his life in a heartbeat if it meant that he could protect you and your mother."
He stared at her breathing heavily.
"Then how come he wasn't figured out who I am." His voice was a few decibels less, but he didn't sit down and when she touched him, he pushed her away.
"I don't really know. It's a mystery really. I've been thinking about the same thing. But just think that he never knew you even existed"
"If I play along and he really is my old man, why hasn't he been able to put the pieces together. He knows my mother. My father should recognise me, if not immediately, at least after eight or more years. I mean how many has the same eyes as me?"
"And yet you never thought that he could be your father," she said back.
"Well obviously. Have you seen my mother?"
"Yes," she said with all honesty, "she is powerful and would absolutely attract more than a pair of eyes."
"Gross," grimaced the boy before returning to his still mad face. "How would he even end up with someone like her?"
"So you don't hate the captain," she tried.
"I don't know. I mean, she just thru that at me. You know what," he said looking at her with a new found resolve, "even if my mother has something against the captain, I am not going to hate him because she wants me too." Rangiku sight, and tried very hard not to face palm.
"And anyway," he continued, "I know for a fact that it's not true."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, the captain knows my old man apparently. Doesn't like him much."
"Say what? You sure he isn't just talking about himself in third person?" He looked back at her arms crossed. He was still small, but his way of being started to be like the captain when he was mad. When she was thinking about it, if Ryuu had grown up in Seireitei, he would be a Hitsugaya 2.0. Well more than what he is already.
"Why are you trying so hard for this cover story?"
She didn't really have any time to answer as they both felt the explosion. Well it was more like those energy bursts Ryuu had, only it wasn't from him. Matsumoto could trace it back to far away, probably the third. It felt so similar to what Ryuu did. She shouldn't have looked toward the door. As she wanted to look back at the boy, he was gone leaving an open window in his wake.
…
Captain Hitsugaya traced the energy back to the third immediately, that's where Ryuu was supposed to be. He stood on the roof waiting, and apparently he was right to think there was something off. Ryuu must have had a breakout or something similar for them to feel it all the way down in the tenth.
The second energy burst made him tremble. He knew that energy, and even if it felt a lot like Ryuu, he knew it wasn't the childs. His theory was confirmed when a black haired boy with a white zanpakuto went flying past him.
The captain ran after the boy as fast as he reclaimed the control of his senses. This time he was ready. That bastard wouldn't get away with his madness again. Yin Yang wasn't leaving Soul Society under his watch.
Finally, I'm nearing the end. I'll make shorter chapters but hopefully, more.
Thank you so much for reading this story :D It means a great deal.