Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.
Toshiro watched as the woman was lovingly embraced by the captain before having a kiss planted on her cheek. The two separated and the captain pulled out her chair for her, getting down on one knee and making a flamboyant gesture, garnering laughter from the woman. Toshiro's scowl worsened.
At least he hasn't changed.
Toshiro wanted to barge inside and demand answers, but he knew that he shouldn't venture into a situation without all the facts. It was Shinigami 101. So, he started to look at the facts.
Fact: the captain and the woman appeared to be in some sort of relationship.
Fact: the two of them seemed to be living with each other.
Fact: the woman was obviously pregnant and, if the baby's astonishingly high amounts of reiastu were any indication, the captain was the father.
Fact: the captain was stupid enough to impregnate a human woman and Toshiro wanted to strangle him.
Moving away from the window, Toshiro jumped off the side of the building and landed in front of the entrance. Although he had put together the most probable reason for the captain remaining in the Human World, there were many things that remained unsolved. Who exactly was the woman? How did they meet? Why hasn't the captain contacted Soul Society if he was alive?
Toshiro needed to investigate. He knew that if he confronted the captain, he would provide some flimsy excuse for his actions and attempt to get Toshiro to return without him. Therefore, Toshiro had to focus most of his investigation on the woman. By finding out who the woman was and her connection to the captain, Toshiro would be on equal footing when he approached the captain. But for now, Toshiro needed to get away from the house before the captain sensed his presence. Oddly enough, he hadn't yet been caught, which meant that either the captain had gotten lazy during his time in the Human World, or there was something else at play here. And Toshiro intended to find out what.
Leaning over the edge of the roof, Toshiro locked his eyes on the orange-haired woman as she exited a supermarket. Her brightly-colored head of hair was hard to lose, Toshiro mused as he hopped off the roof and landed slightly behind her. The woman, Masaki Kurosaki he learned was her name, pushed a cart full of fruits and vegetables toward her car, although there were quite a few jars of peanut butter and pickles. Toshiro shuddered. After watching her for the past week, Toshiro had gotten a good indication of what types of food the woman craved while pregnant and it wasn't pleasant. He would never be able to look at pickles the same way.
Watching the woman open up the trunk of her car to place her groceries inside, Toshiro moved up beside her to help. The woman had been having difficulties the past week with carrying large objects, and so Toshiro would help out from time to time. Even though she and the baby were the main reasons that the captain had disappeared, Toshiro didn't hate the woman. If anything, it was his idiotic captain's fault. And it wasn't like the woman could see him. The groceries would only feel lighter to her. He had come to the conclusion early on that she couldn't see him when he had slightly flared his reiastu to see if she was spiritually aware. She hadn't reacted so he had assumed that she lacked the ability to see spirits, although there was another option. The child inside her was constantly releasing a barrage of reiastu to the outside world, and that could be disrupting her connection to spirits. There could only be one way to find out.
Finishing with the groceries, Toshiro took a deep breath and focused, reaching out with his reiastu to the unborn child. Should he be able to stabilize and reduce the amount of reiastu the child was giving off, if the woman was aware then she would be able to see him. And then he might get some answers as to how she knew the captain.
When Toshiro connected with the baby, he was momentarily stunned by the type of reiastu being released. It seemed….strange, to say the least. At times, he could clearly sense the power of a Shinigami, while other times he could sense a Hollow. There was also a third signature, but it was fainter and harder to pick out. Trying to get a clearer picture of it, Toshiro sent out his own reiastu, covering the baby's in order to reduce it. He didn't expect to get an arrow thrust in front of his face. Flinching backwards, he looked up at Masaki and the bow she was holding. And suddenly the third signature made sense.
Quincy.
Masaki stepped forward, leveling her bow with Toshiro's face. There was a look of anger on her face as she readied to fire. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, puffing out her cheeks.
Toshiro knew that he had to resolve the situation. Putting his hands out and deliberately away from Hyorinmaru, he attempted a smile. From the look on Masaki's face, he knew that it turned out to be more of a grimace.
"My apologies," he started, "I was unaware that you could sense me and I was simply curious about the child." Masaki seemed to consider this before nodding, although she kept the bow trained on Toshiro's face. "Why?" she responded.
Taking this as a way to start a discussion he had been dying to have, Toshiro began. "My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, the third seat of Squad 10. I had been searching for my captain, Isshin Shiba, in the Human World when I found him with you. I was attempting to see if you were spiritually aware and if the child's power was preventing you from seeing me. I now know that to be untrue." He paused, suddenly coming to a realization about the woman. "Wait, if you could see me all this time, why haven't you said anything?"
At this, Masaki broke out into laughter and dissolved her bow. "I know who you are. I've seen you ever since you decided to shadow me," she explained, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "When I told Isshin your description, he realized who you were. We've actually had a bet to see how long it would take you to try to contact me. The only reason we're talking now is that I was surprised when I felt your reiastu interact with my child's."
"What!?" Toshiro almost yelled. Blistering anger at his captain filled him. Him and the woman were messing with him! "Well if you can see me," he gritted out, "then you can answer some questions for me! What is your relationship with Captain Shiba and why did he vanish from Seireitei!?"
At this Masaki's jovial tone and body language tapered off. She seemed unsure of what to say next and her hand unconsciously fingered the area underneath her neck. A sad smile adorned her lips. "I think that's a conversation that needs to be discussed with Isshin present. Would you mind going to the Urahara Shoten and getting a gigai?" she asked, ignoring Toshiro's shudder at the mention of Urahara, as well as the curious expression on his face in regards to the gigai. "I know you don't think that you need one, but without a gigai I'm not going to talk and neither is Isshin. Understood?"
Toshiro was confused. It was obvious the woman could see him and the captain would be able to see him as well. There was no need for him to have a gigai. However, if that was the only way he would get the full story of why his captain was in the Human World, then he would get a gigai from that deplorable shopkeeper.
At Toshiro's nod, Masaki brightened. Walking past Toshiro, she opened the door of her car and got behind the steering wheel. "Ok, once you get your gigai, come to Isshin and I's house where we'll explain everything," she said, "I'll see you then, Shiro." Ignoring Toshiro's angry rebuttal at the nickname, she started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
Toshiro sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was so close to finding out the real reason for the captain disappearing into the Human World. All he had to do was get a gigai. Steeling himself for what was to come, he started heading towards the Urahara Shoten.
