Toshiro, with a practice sword in his hand, was easily blocking every one of Yachiru's blows, and it was really beginning to be obvious that it was ticking her off. He was a child, and she was a lieutenant. She'd said as much before they'd started the bout; she had said it was unfair to make poor Snowflake even try to take her on. Hinamori insisted she give Toshiro a chance because Yachiru was literally the only shinigami he could spar with who was his size, and he obviously needed to learn how to deal with someone who wasn't bigger than him.

Yachiru had been skeptical, but Ikkaku had asked her if she was scared and that had been the end of the discussion.

After a few minutes it was becoming obvious Yachiru needed the same practice.

Ikkaku and Renji were taking turns taunting both Yachiru and Toshiro whenever the opportunity presented itself, but Hinamori was watching with focused intensity. She wasn't much good with a sword herself; she tended to depend on kido, but her few bouts with Toshiro had led her to suspect he might be better than he'd let on. Now she was sure of it. Yachiru had been trained by the Kenpachi, after all. She really should have no trouble flattening a kid, even if he'd been allowed to practice with his father's men on occasion.

"Captain Ichimaru must have made him train every day," she said softly.

"Looks like," Ikkaku agreed, startling Hinamori. She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud.

Ikkaku turned to look down at the mousy little lieutenant. He didn't usually bother to notice her at all, but the Ichimaru kid seemed more interesting. "What's his zanpakuto?" he asked.

"He doesn't have one," Hinamori said, like it should be obvious.

Ikkaku smiled. "The hell he doesn't."

At that moment Toshiro knocked the practice blade from Yachiru's hand and swept his up to her throat.

The pink haired girl shrieked, "Fine! Fine, Snowflake! You win!"

She stepped back and picked up her weapon as he lowered his. Then she turned back, shrieking, "Time for round two!"

Ayasegawa Yumichika appeared nearly an hour later with a tray with tea and snacks. He surveyed the scene with some curiosity. Yachiru and Toshiro were swinging furiously, attacking, dodging, and countering so quickly they were little more than a blur as they moved back and forth across the practice ground. A bit of a crowd had gathered to watch. Members of the Eleventh stood at the edges of the buildings and just inside doorways, watching from a safe distance. Ikkaku sat near Renji and Hinamori on the edge of one porch, his eyes never leaving the white-haired boy for an instant, but Renji and Hinamori both looked like they'd seen more than enough and were ready for the whole thing to be over.

Yumichika glanced at the fighting pair for a second longer before he turned to join Ikkaku and the others on the porch.

"What's the score?" he asked as he knelt gracefully and set down the tray.

"Toshiro's beaten the lieutenant five times, but she won't give in," Renji answered. Ikkaku did not so much as acknowledge Yumichika's arrival.

"He's better than I thought he'd be," Hinamori said, softly.

Yumichika nodded as he poured himself a cup of tea. "You shouldn't be surprised. Both of his parents are pretty deadly with their zanpakuto, and Captain Ichimaru's the type who pushes all his men till they break-you don't think he'd be any easier on his own kid, do you?"

The girl frowned and glanced back at her young friend. Toshiro was always very serious and hardworking, but he'd never said anything to make her think his father was pushing him at all. In fact, it always seemed to her that his parents were a bit negligent when it came to his training and education. Gin seemed completely uninterested in anything related to Toshiro, and Rangiku seemed to adore her son, but she also seemed to expect him to raise himself; at least that was the impression Hinamori had gotten from Toshiro. For the first time she wondered if there might be some things he had purposefully kept from her.

"I guess not," she said finally.

Yumichika smiled. "You're not the only one who's missed it," he said to make her feel a little better. "Toshiro hides his strength like his father does, and people would underestimate him anyway because he's small."

He turned away abruptly and shouted at the dueling pair. "Lieutenant, I've brought your morning snack, but if you don't want-"

The girl appeared beside him in a pink flash.

She was coated in dust and sweat and breathing heavily, but she didn't pause for even a second before grabbing a sweet bean cake and shoving it into her mouth.

Yumichika made a face as he watched her. "Don't you think you might want to at least wash your hands?"

"Silly Yu-yu," Yachiru said, after swallowing and before shoving in the next cake. "My hands will get dirty from the rice flour anyway."

Toshiro reached the porch then and dropped down onto his back on the smooth wood. "How can you eat after that?" he asked, as he closed his eyes and stretched out his arms and legs. He drew in a deep breath, and it was clear he was going to be asleep very soon.

"Yachiru a challenge for you?" Ikkaku asked.

"I guess," Toshiro answered, without opening his eyes. "She's just a lieutenant, but I guess there's a reason they call you guys the toughest in the Gotei."

Yachiru wanted to argue with the 'just a lieutenant' comment, but she would have had to stop eating so she let it go.

"You can join any time you want, kid," Ikkaku told him.

Toshiro smiled, but this time he didn't answer.

Yumichika smiled too, but it was a different sort of a smile. "His mom hears you told him that, and she's going to flay you alive. You know how his she feels about people recruiting her son."

"Rangiku's all talk," Ikkaku scoffed, but he gave the boy a wary glance.

"Hinamori-san, I was going to offer you a snack, but-" Yumichika frowned down at Yachiru who had already finished all the available food. "Perhaps you'd like some tea?"

"Oh, yes, thank you," she said, smiling shyly at the Eleventh Division Fifth Seat. She did not know Ikkaku or Yumichika very well at all, but they seemed to be friends with both Renji and Toshiro so she was doing her best to be friendly.

"I'll have some," Renji said, turning to Yumichika.

"The kitchen's over there," Yumichika said, gesturing lightly. "I didn't bring you a cup."

"What about that one?" Renji demanded pointing at an empty cup, as Yumichika handed each of the others a steaming cup of green tea.

"It's for Shiro-chan, when he wakes up," Yumichika answered. Then he turned to Hinamori. "You know Lieutenant Ise fairly well, don't you?" he asked.

"I suppose so," Hinamori answered. "I've been helping out in the Women's Shinigami Association, and she encouraged me to join the Gotei Festival Committee. It's a lot more work than I expected."

"Maybe you can tell me then, because this idiot," Yumichika said, nodding toward Renji, "Has no idea despite going out for drinks with Hisagi at least once a week, are they or are they not engaged?"

"I told you she said yes, but her family hates him," Renji protested. "Last night he passed out still complaining about snobby aristocrats threatening to murder him. What more do you want?"

"I would like to know if Lieutenant Ise is really going to defy her family. It would be completely out of character for her to do so, and I wondered if the reason why might be the same reason her family is threatening to murder poor Hisagi."

Hinamori's eyes widened. "You don't think she could be-I mean, you don't think they have to get married, do you?"

Ikkaku let out a laugh. "Rangiku could screw up a kido any day, but Ise, there's no way. She's not getting knocked up till she wants to."

"True," Yumichika admitted. "But it is such a rush. They've only been dating a few months, and they're already talking about marriage? It's not like Lieutenant Ise to rush into anything."

The conversation faded as two phrases repeated themselves over and over in Toshiro's head: They have to get married, Rangiku could screw up a kido any day. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd heard either, but he'd never connected them before, and he'd never once thought about what they meant, after all they involved his parents and sex and that was two topics he really wished didn't share a universe. But now, hearing the others talk, he realized what he should probably have known for a long time. His parents had had to get married because his mother had screwed up a kido. He, himself, was the mistake that had forced them to marry. They might not even have wanted to get married, and they probably had not wanted him.

Kinta had been wanted, planned for, expected. He remembered his mom saying, 'this time' over and over again, and had never quite realizing what she meant by that. She'd been so happy and excited.

She probably hadn't felt that way when he was coming. For the first time he actually bothered to do the math, subtracting his age from hers, and a chill ran down his spine. She'd been Renji's age! His parents had practically been children. No wonder they'd been so completely useless half the time.

Of course they shouldn't have been sleeping together in the first place. He sighed inwardly at that thought. That was his parents, alright; stupid, irresponsible, and always just looking for some fun. They had never once thought about what could happen. He was nothing but a mistake, a huge, life-altering mistake, that they'd been stuck with whether they wanted him or not.

Toshiro hopped up abruptly and without a word to anyone he shunpoed away from the Eleventh.

It didn't take long for Gin to notice Toshiro on the windowsill. He considered ignoring him, but in the end Toshiro seemed less boring than his paperwork.

"Need something, Shiro?" he asked, without turning from his desk.

"I was a mistake," Toshiro said. He'd considered talking to his mom about it, but in the end decided there was too high a chance of tears. He knew she'd take his questions as meaning he felt unwanted, and that definitely wasn't the case; honestly, he really thought she might be overdoing the doting mother thing a bit. But maybe she was trying to make up for the fact that he really wasn't wanted—by his father.

Gin smiled as he turned to face the boy. "Was wondering if you'd ever figure that out," he said. "Did you finally notice the dates or did you get into the wedding photos? Your mother hates those; she was the size of a small elephant."

"Yumichika asked Hinamori if Ise-san and Hisagi-san had to get married and Ikkaku said Ise-san would never screw up a kido like Mom had."

Gin's smile grew larger. "She was terrible with kido, couldn't stand all the practice, thought it was boring as hell. That's one good thing you did; you taught your mother some patience."

Toshiro frowned back at him. "You didn't want to marry her," he accused.

Gin's smile remained, fake and fox-like as ever. "Course I did. When have I ever done anything I didn't want to?"

Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "Mom makes you do stuff all the time," he pointed out.

"Sure she does," Gin agreed, his smile not changing in the slightest.

There was no point in arguing. He could doubt the sincerity of his father's feelings for his mother all he wanted. His father would never admit anything, but as far as he, himself was concerned... "So it was just me you didn't want?"

"Pretty much," Gin agreed.

"I guess I ruined everything, huh?"

"Oh, definitely."

Toshiro wondered why it made him feel guilty. He wasn't the one who'd screwed up. If anything, he should be mad at them. Who wanted to be the unwanted child of a couple of stupid kids? But he did feel bad; he'd always been in the way, keeping them from the lives they wanted. Who knows what his mother could have done if he hadn't been there holding her back, and his father had never been quiet about all the time and energy he was wasting on Toshiro.

Gin watched the thoughts flash across Toshiro's face, so easy to read. The boy really was too responsible. "You know, Shiro, you're not a bad kid. You didn't ruin your mother's career on purpose, and you do a lot for her. These days I don't think she could get along without you."

Toshiro smiled wryly. "Yeah, who'd make sure she gets home safely when she's falling down drunk?"

"Exactly. You keep an eye on her. She's lucky to have you. I doubt there are many mothers out there with young sons training bankai just to keep their mothers safe."

Toshiro cringed slightly. "You know about that?"

"Don't know why you've been trying to keep it from me. If we work together we can have you at captain level in no time. You won't need the Academy at all. You can take the captain's exam as soon as you're ready to join the Gotei. You could become your mother's captain; wouldn't that be funny?"

Toshiro's eyes widened. He had never really thought that far ahead. He'd mostly just wanted to prove he could do anything his father could and he didn't even need his help to manage it. But the Tenth was the only open division. If he could make captain it would be in the Tenth. His mother would be his lieutenant. That sounded bad.

"You would keep a better eye on her than most of the idiots we've got coming up," Gin said. "What do you think, Shiro? Want to be a captain?"

Toshiro nodded slowly. He would become a captain, and he would protect his mother, even if that was the only value his father ever thought he had.