"Is that your mom?" one of the boys asked as Rangiku approached the children's party.
"Yeah," Toshiro said, looking up as his mother greeted Hisana-sama and began to talk. She always had a lot to say.
"She's a shinigami. Your mom's a shinigami! What rank? My uncle's the lieutenant of the Second Division."
"My mom's the lieutenant of the Tenth, and my dad's the lieutenant of the Fifth, but he's going to become captain of the Third. Captain Aizen promised to recommend him at New Years."
"What's his name? I bet I've heard of him," the boy answered.
"Ichimaru Gin," Toshiro answered.
The other boy's expression changed entirely. "Your dad is Ichimaru?" he said in shock.
"Yeah," Toshiro said, wondering what the big deal was.
"My uncle says Ichimaru is so creepy everybody does anything they can to stay away from him. My uncle even skipped an assignment to Rukongai cause he was supposed to go with Ichimaru alone, and everyone knows he has connections to the underworld, and he'd probably make my uncle disappear and tell everyone a hollow did it. Cause he always lies, and everybody knows it, but nobody can prove it cause he's so sneaky."
Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "My dad says the lieutenant from the Second Division is a fat, no talent moron who got his position by trading on his family name, and the only way they can get anything done in the lieutenants meetings is to save the important stuff for after Omaeda falls asleep."
Toshiro dodged the taller child's fist and knocked him to the ground with a swift kick to the ankle, dropping to his knees on the boy's back to keep him on the ground. "My dad may be creepy, but he's also smarter, stronger, and better looking than your stupid uncle, and he taught me to protect myself so you'd better-"
"Toshiro!" Rangiku shrieked, grabbing her son by the arm and jerking him away from the child he'd just knocked to the ground.
Hisana dropped to the ground beside the other boy, who promptly started crying. "He hit me!" he wailed, pointing at Toshiro. "And I didn't do anything!"
Toshiro didn't even answer. He just gave the other boy a disgusted look.
"What happened?" Rangiku demanded, turning to Toshiro and grabbing him by both arms to force him to look at her.
"I knocked him down," Toshiro answered.
"Why?"
"He called my uncle, Lieutenant Omaeda, fat and ugly and stupid," the boy accused.
"He did?" Rangiku looked Toshiro in the eye. "When did you ever meet-I mean, why would you say something like that? You know better than to call someone names."
Toshiro's eyes dropped. "He said everybody thinks Dad is a liar, and everybody always tries to stay away from him 'cause he's creepy."
"So you called his uncle fat, lazy, and stupid?"
"I don't know anything about his dad," Toshiro explained.
Rangiku burst out laughing. "So you went after his uncle?" she said when she was able to speak. "That's hardly fair. Insulting Omaeda is like shooting fish in a barrel. It's not sporting."
"Rangiku!" Hisana said.
Rangiku sighed. "Shiro-chan, you know better than to insult someone's family. You need to apologize."
"You too, Toru-kun," Hisana said, brushing the dirt from the boy's kimono.
"I'm sorry you have such a stupid uncle," Toshiro said.
"Toshiro!"
"I am. I would hate to have such a-"
"That's enough!"
"You're a demon child! You're a curse on your whole family, and your dad is too! You white-haired demon-"
"Toru!" Hisana snapped. "That is a horrible, shameful thing to say. I am taking you to your mother right now. You will have to tell her what an awful thing you said."
Rangiku watched Hisana drag the boy back to the house, and she saw how the other children, who had gathered to watch the fight, were now watching Toshiro warily, and she realized that even here, among the nobility of Soul Society, that stupid belief still lingered, that a child born with white hair was demonic and would bring disaster upon everyone he touched.
She stood up swiftly and grabbed Toshiro's hand. "We're going home."
For a few minutes Toshiro walked beside her in silence, but eventually he spoke. "Am I a demon child?" he asked. "Is that why I'm different from everyone?"
"Don't be silly," Rangiku said, speeding up her steps. "That was a stupid little boy who was just trying to hurt you. Just like you were trying to hurt him, calling his uncle names."
Toshiro was quiet for a moment. Then he added, "Everything I said about Omaeda was true."
"So you think everything he said was true, too? You think your father's a liar and everybody's afraid of him?"
"Maybe not everyone," Toshiro granted after a moment's thought.
"Shiro, your father is supported by Captain Aizen, one of the most respected men in all of the Gotei, as well as five other captains, to be put forward as the next captain of the Third Division. He is very respected throughout the Gotei. Do you think that would be the case if anyone thought he was a liar? And the only people who are afraid of him are cowards like Omaeda, who try to avoid ever fighting, and that's because your father isn't afraid to call them out on it."
Toshiro didn't answer, and after a few minutes Rangiku sighed. "When I met Gin, he was just a little boy like you. He gave me some food because he saw I was starving, and let me live in a little falling-down shed with him because I had nowhere else to go. He would never say where he came from, but I think he'd run away from his family, probably because they were just like that stupid little boy today and thought he was cursed because of his white hair and blue eyes.
"People were cruel in Rukongai, not just little kids, but adults would call him names and sometimes throw things at him, and some people would shove him or kick him just because they could. He got really good at sneaking around so people wouldn't notice him, and I think he stole most of the food he brought home, but there wasn't really a choice. No one would give him a job, and he was afraid if I went out alone and tried to get work bad men might hurt me.
"It was a very hard life, Shiro-chan, and your father protected me all the time. And no matter what happened, no matter how bad they hurt him, he'd just smile at me and tell me everything was ok.
"You have no idea how happy he is that people are different here, and you will never have to go through what he did. No shinigami would ever call you cursed because of your hair color. If they ever did think like that then Captain Ukitake must have changed their minds centuries ago. How could anyone believe he was a demon? He's the kindest shinigami who ever lived.
"People barely even notice your hair color. Sometimes someone will say you take after your father, but mostly they just tell me you're the cutest little boy they've ever seen."
"I'm not cute," Toshiro said.
"Of course you are," she teased. "And when you grow up you are going to be so handsome every girl in Soul Society will fall madly in love with you."
"Stop it," Toshiro told her.
"You will be careful only to pick a girl your mommy likes, won't you, Shiro-chan?"
"I'm never getting married. I'll be like Captain Aizen. He doesn't need any girls around telling him what to do. He's a strong captain, and everybody wants to be in his division, but he only takes the best, and he teaches them to be even better 'cause that's the kind of captain he is. I'll bet dad won't even care what kind of people join his division. He'll probably let anyone in."
Rangiku shrugged. "You're may be right, there. He's going to be a very different sort of captain from Captain Aizen, but I don't think he'll be a bad one, just different. That's the nicest thing about the Gotei; different isn't bad."
"I guess so," Toshiro agreed a little reluctantly.