Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach

Chapter Sixteen - Moving On

Six months had passed since the white haired child named Toushirou had appeared in Soul Society, his origins completely unknown, and on this day he was preparing to graduate from the Shinigami Academy. It was a record setting accomplishment and only served to cement the fact that he was a genuine child prodigy.

A great deal had happened to the youth during this period of time, which had done their part to shape him into the person that he was today. Donning his new shihakusho Toushirou secured Hyourinmaru across his back, fully prepared to take his place among the ranks of the Shinigami. Today, at the graduation ceremony, he would find out to which squad he had been assigned.

"Are you ready for this little one?"

"I am," Toushirou stated calmly in response to the words of his Zanpaktou. He had been thinking a great deal about everything that had happened since his rather eventful arrival in the Soul Society. Despite the time that had passed the boy still couldn't summon up any memories about his life before coming to Soul Society and, after awhile, he had almost decided that this was for the best. It seemed rather obvious that something traumatic must have happened in order to make him forget everything, including his own name, and the white haired youth came to the conclusion that it might be in his best interests to simply embrace this new life that he had established among the Shinigami.

His life as Toushirou Hitsugaya.

A sudden knock on the door roused Toushirou from these thoughts. Turning teal eyes toward the sound he called out, "Enter."

A couple of seconds passed before the door opened to reveal Head Captain Ukitake. The man had a smile on his face and, as he walked toward the young boy, he absently placed his right hand in the left sleeve of his haori.

"Oh no," Toushirou thought, by now more than familiar with this gesture. "Tell me he isn't going to…"

But it quickly became obvious that he was indeed going to. The smile on Ukitake's face grew even wider as he pulled his hand from the sleeve of his haori and immediately piled Toushirou's arms full of sweets. "I brought you a little graduation gift," the man said with a chuckle.

Toushirou scowled as he placed the sweets on the desk, rolling his eyes the moment that his back was to the Head Captain. "How does he even fit all of this in his sleeve?" he couldn't help but think to himself. This 'gift' for lack of a better word had never ceased to amaze the boy.

"So are you excited about your upcoming graduation Shiro-chan?" Ukitake questioned, completely ignoring the way that the boy flinched at the nickname.

"Not really," Toushirou stated in a calm tone of voice, internally ranting at the childish sounding nickname. If it had been anyone else who had called him that he would have shouted at them but he had a great deal of respect for the older white haired male which was the only thing that kept his temper in check at this moment.

Ukitake was somewhat surprised by the boy's reply but shrugged off this feeling. It was more than likely just Toushirou's attempt to maintain his mature façade; the boy was notorious for behaving much older than he actually was.

One of the reasons why he had already gotten the reputation for being cold among his fellow students at the Academy.

Ukitake was fairly certain that this was merely a way for the child to protect himself from the taunts of others and to prove that he was worthy of being a full fledged Shinigami. By acting cold and mature beyond his years Toushirou was seeking both to protect himself as well as to prove himself.

"Well come on Toushirou," Ukitake said, the smile still resolutely on his face as he opted to call the boy by his full given name. "If we don't hurry then you're going to be late for the graduation that you aren't excited about."

Toushirou nodded, moving to follow Ukitake from his room. Gazing back he took one last look at his room, where all of his possessions were neatly packed and ready to be moved. After the ceremony he would be moving into the barracks of whatever squad he was assigned to.

"I'm ready for this," Toushirou thought to himself as he closed the door of his room and followed along behind Head Captain Ukitake. There were still several things that he was determined to find an answer to, though his true identity was no longer among them. There were things much more important than a name and a past this his mind had felt the need to banish all traces of.

Gazing back over his shoulder Ukitake noticed the serious look that had appeared on Toushirou's face. It appeared as though the white haired youth was in deep thought about something and Ukitake vaguely found himself wondering what exactly that something could be. Was he worried about moving into the barracks of his new squad?

When he learned of Toushirou's impending graduation from the instructors at the Academy the Head Captain's first impulse had been to assign the boy to Squad One so that he could continue to keep an eye on him. But of course he realized that this had more to do with his desire to protect Toushirou than anything else and in the end he forced himself not to take such an action. It wouldn't really have been beneficial and would most likely only have increased the alienation that Toushirou already faced among his peers.

"Head Captain Ukitake…"

The white haired man turned as he heard this familiar voice calling out to him and he watched as Captain Urahara walked toward him, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. "What is it Kisuke?" he questioned as he came to a halt.

"May I have a word?" the blond captain asked, the hidden meaning of this question not lost upon the Head Captain. Ukitake nodded before turning to his young charge. "You go on ahead Toushirou, wouldn't want you to be late to your own graduation. I'll catch up."

"Right," Toushirou said, nodding his head. He hadn't failed to catch the hidden meaning of Urahara's words but didn't say anything about it as he walked away.

"So what is it Kisuke?" Ukitake asked once the white haired youth was out of earshot. The fact that the normally fun loving Squad Twelve Captain was actually being serious lent credence to the importance of whatever it was that he wanted to discuss.

"I've located traces of Captain Aizen's reiatsu…"

A/N - End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. Please be kind enough to leave a review and share your thoughts.