***I really can't put together a timeline or figure out any sort of reasonable ages for everyone, but ages are sometimes really important to kids, so in this section I have Toshiro and Hinamori discuss his age, and I'm just going to use human ages and let every reader use their imagination as to what that might translate to in shinigami years. Sorry.***

Toshiro had decided to visit Division Five. It had nothing to do with the fact that Hinamori Momo worked there. Captain Aizen had said he would be welcome any time, and he thought it would be polite to return the Captain's visit. He had his pack and a bag of persimmons from the trees his father had planted at the division. They were still pretty small, but a hundred trees with ten fruit apiece was still a lot of fruit.

He hadn't exactly asked his parents permission to go by himself, but they both seemed fine with him spending his time how he wanted. He told Fourth Seat Shirakawa where he was going, so if either of them decided they needed him, it shouldn't be too hard for them to find him.

He waved at the men at the gate when he arrived at the Fifth. He'd known both of them all his life, and they still called him 'Shiro-chan', but at least they didn't ask him where his mommy was.

He walked through the division with complete confidence. Every inch of the main buildings was familiar, and nearly every person he met smiled and said 'hello' to him, not even thinking to question the presence of a child, by himself, who no longer had any reason to be there.

The captain's office door was open, and Toshiro looked in curiously. Aizen wasn't in but there were four of his staff officers taking a break and chatting happily as they drank tea.

"Shiro-chan!" Hinamori exclaimed, noticing the white-haired boy immediately. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd visit Captain Aizen," he answered, frowning. 'Shiro-chan' seriously? How old did she think he was?

"He's not in this morning," the Third Seat informed him. "I think he went to meet with Captain Tosen. I think he'll be back from the Ninth after lunch."

"Oh," Toshiro pulled the pack off his back and set it on the floor, so he could get out the persimmons. "Can I leave these for him then?"

"Of course," Hinamori answered, taking the bag and setting it on the captain's desk. "What are you going to do now, Shiro-chan?"

He shrugged. "I'll think of something." He picked up his bag and pulled the straps over his shoulders while debating internally the relative merits of visiting the Tenth, where the cooks tended to spoil him or going back to the Third where he could practice in peace.

"I'll come with you," Hinamori announced, taking his hand. "You probably shouldn't be wandering all over Seireitei on your own anyway."

He walked only a few feet down the hall before he couldn't take it any longer. He stopped abruptly and yanked his hand out of hers. "How old do you think I am?" he demanded.

Hinamori turned and frowned at him, looking a little hurt by his shout. "I don't know," she said. "Eight, maybe?" She was being as generous as she could. He really didn't look any older than six, but he spoke and acted a lot older so she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"Eleven, I'm eleven," he told her in annoyance. "I know I'm short but that's no reason to treat me like a baby."

Himamori's eyes widened. "You really are almost old enough to go to the Academy."

"My mom's not going to let me go till I'm at least sixteen," Toshiro said. "She thinks it's better if I'm closer to the same age as everyone else."

"But you already know so much," Hinamori said. She studied him for a moment, trying to get a read on his reiatsu. It was surprisingly hard to judge. "I bet you could learn anything they teach the First Years."

"Yeah?" Toshiro said, trying to look like that was a compliment and not be annoyed because he could do more than most graduates. Nobody other than his father knew about that, and that's the way it had to stay. He could tell his mom wasn't ready to give him up, and he wasn't even a hundred percent sure he wanted to try to join the Academy while he was still small enough everyone was going to treat him like a little kid. He hadn't given up the dream of being tall one day. Bot of his parents were, and, yeah, he didn't grow in the summer, but as long as he kept growing every winter he'd get there eventually, right?

Hinamori smiled suddenly. "Would you like to learn a kido?" she asked.

"A kido?" he repeated.

"If you don't think your parents would mind. I won't teach you anything dangerous. Sometimes they let kids your age into the Academy so even if you're not going yet-"

"Why shouldn't I learn some kido," Toshiro said slowly. It had never occurred to him before. He was reaching an age where learning a couple kido wasn't that unusual. Some of the kids from the Four Great Houses would go to the Academy already knowing all the basic kido. Why shouldn't he? He just had to avoid doing anything too impressive, and he could act like he was just learning it all now. "They won't mind. They've already let me learn shunpo."

"You know shunpo?" Hinamori said skeptically.

"I learned shunpo forever ago. I'm probably faster than you," he said. It felt surprisingly good to actually be able to brag about something he was good at. All the secrets his father liked so much were stressful and exhausting. Bragging almost made him feel free.

"Don't be silly-"

"Race you to practice field six," he said and vanished.

Hinamori arrived at least thirty seconds after him, gasping for breath. She couldn't even claim he'd only won because of his head start. He'd beaten her thoroughly, and he wasn't even winded.

Toshiro smiled. "Bet I get better at kido than you, too," he said.

Hinamori looked down at the small, white-haired boy with his bright, determined eyes, and all she could say was, "You'd better not."