Toshiro walked beside Gin, studying the crowd as they wove through the busy streets of Seireitei from the Fifth Division to their home. He had spent the afternoon making ice sculptures with Captain Aizen while his father worked on overdue paperwork. It was fairly typical of his time at the Fifth where his father was always finding someone who didn't appear to be busy to watch him. At least Captain Aizen always found him something fun to do.
But now he was back with his father, and he'd been given the seemingly impossible assignment of counting all the people who had more reiatsu than he did. It wasn't a fair assignment. It was always harder to see reiatsu when he couldn't close his eyes, and not being at home made it even harder. Gin had never told Toshiro most of his reiatsu was blocked the moment he stepped outside the front door, but Toshiro couldn't help noticing that lots of things seemed a lot harder when he was away from home.
At least it was snowing. Captain Aizen had told him he had a very special connection to the cold and snow and ice. He said it was an extraordinary gift, completely unique in Soul Society, and Toshiro should always try to use it because it was a special power, just for him. And today he was finding it to be the case. In this world of reishi everything reacted to everything else, more or less, but because Toshiro was so sensitive to the movement of the falling snow, he could sense how it danced just a little differently in the presence of reiatsu, and the stronger the reiatsu the more it was affected.
So he counted the ones who affected the snow more than he did. There weren't many, and there was only one who sent the falling snow flying like his father did, Captain Tosen, who nodded in acknowledgement of Gin's call of "Good evening," but said nothing in return. He was one of a very few men who's disliking of Gin, Toshiro noticed, seemed to extend to the rest of the family as well.
In the entire hour they walked across Seireitei, he had only counted seventeen men and two women who seemed stronger than himself, and only the captain had been equal to his father. Lieutenant Omaeda of the Second hadn't been close, and surprisingly, neither had Sasakebi of the First. It was the first time Toshiro had ever been aware of just how rare strength like theirs was.
It was the first time he'd ever felt proud of his father. Gin might be distant and impossible to please, but he was strong, as strong as a captain, and that meant he was stronger than almost every other person in all of Seireitei. It was quite a thought. Maybe his father really would be a captain someday, and maybe, "Dad, do you think I could be a captain when I grow up?" he asked, as they turned onto their own familiar street.
Gin looked down at the boy with his huge, hope-filled eyes, so young and innocent. Rangiku's eyes had always been like that, despite all that she'd suffered before he'd found her, her eyes had always had that light. It was good that the boy had inherited at least some of her optimism.
"I'm sure you will, Shiro-chan, if you live long enough," Gin answered, with a pleasant grin. It was too bad that optimism had to be crushed.
Toshiro froze. Fear replaced the hope in his eyes. He didn't understand. Was something going to happen to him? He remembered abruptly that the reason he'd spent the day with his father was because several new members had been killed in the Tenth. Someone had made a mistake, and there'd been a stronger hollow than anyone had expected, and they'd all died.
His mother had cried and cried. She said they had been too young. She said someone should have been watching out for them; they were practically children. His father had just sat there, letting his mother cry. He didn't argue, and he didn't try to make her feel better. It had been a miserable night, and today she had gone to their funeral, and she wouldn't be back till late.
"I'm not gonna die," Toshiro said suddenly.
"Glad to hear it," Gin answered as he slid open the door and stepped into the dark entry.
"I'm not," Toshiro repeated, following his father inside. "I'm gonna be strong, and I'm gonna beat all the hollows."
"That's nice," Gin answered, lighting a pair of lamps and stepping up onto the tatami. He seemed to have dismissed the entire subject as he sat down at the cluttered table and set the lamps on two different stacks of books. "How many did you count?"
"Nineteen-two women and seventeen men. That's all."
"Nope, you missed Rumiko-ba-chan across the street; she came out as we were going in, so that's three women. Only twelve men though; the other five might have been as strong as you, but I doubt it. You're underestimating yourself."
"Then I'm strong enough to be a shinigami," Toshiro said, enjoying his father's confirmation of his strength.
"You're stronger than nearly all of them. You are a little boy who has a greater reiatsu than ninety percent of all shinigami. I don't know if there's ever been a child anything like you," Gin said, smiling an especially cold smile. "But I know you are a treasure the Gotei would love to possess."
"What?" Toshiro said, trying to make sense of his father's words. Wasn't being strong good? Why was his father making it sound so dangerous, and calling him a treasure for the Gotei to possess, like a thing and not a person at all.
"We've been hiding your reiatsu all your life," Gin told him, still with that chilling smile and that cold tone. "If anyone ever finds that out your real strength they will take you away from us. They will want to train you specially to make you even stronger. They will teach you more every single day and make you practice till you're so tired all you want is your mommy, and they won't ever give you back to her. They think she'd baby you and protect you and keep you from growing as fast as you can. So you won't see her anymore. They won't even let you see me, no more family for you. You have to learn to be strong all on your own. Just like those new shinigami who were killed yesterday, you will be expected to take care of yourself by yourself, and if you ever need help, you'll die."
Toshiro shook his head. "That's not true. Mommy won't let them take me away."
"Mommy has to follow the rules just like everyone else. If Mommy tried to stop them from taking you away to train they would kill her," Gin said finally dropping the smile. "They would kill her, and they would still take you. If they ever find out how strong you are they will take you away."
Toshiro stared at his father in absolute terror. His father had just described a nightmare worse than anything he had ever imagined. His little hands fisted at his sides, and his jaw clenched tight as he fought the urge to scream. Was that what was going to happen? He was going to be taken away and his mother was going to be killed and it was all because he was too strong? He had been so proud to see how much stronger he was than all the shinigami they had passed, but now he knew it was a terrible thing to be so special.
"For now your reiatsu is hidden every time you leave our house, but you need to keep practicing hiding it. You need to be able to hide your reiatsu all the time. It is the most important thing for you to do, and you can never show off, not to anyone, not even Captain Isshin or Aizen, not anyone, no matter how nice they are. Someone else can always be watching. The only place in Seireitei you are safe to use reiatsu is in this house. It is the only way to stay safe. Do you understand?"
Toshiro nodded.
Rangiku was surprised, when she came home hours later, to find Toshiro curled up on her futon. When she tried to move him he whimpered and grabbed hold of her like he'd had a bad dream.
"What's wrong, baby?" she whispered, stroking his soft hair, but he only shook his head.
"It's been a long day," Gin said, from where he still sat reading in the other room.
Rangiku nodded. She should have been more careful. Poor Shiro-chan wasn't old enough to hear about people getting killed. It was part of life as a shinigami, but he shouldn't have to deal with it yet. "Don't worry, Shiro-chan," she whispered, laying down and letting him curl up next to her like he used to when he was just a baby. "We're all safe here. You don't have anything to be afraid of anything, ever, I promise. Your mommy and your daddy will always protect you."
That was when Toshiro realized his father, who was just as strong as a captain, had never once said he would stop them from taking him away.