Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the characters involved.

Chapter Eighteen - More Questions than Answers

Even though he had been acting nonchalant about the situation the fact remained that Toushirou was actually a little apprehensive about his first day as an official member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The white haired prodigy would have denied this fact even under threat of torture but it wasn't something that he could lie to himself about even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone else. The fact that he spent a fitful night tossing and turning rather than actually sleeping was all the evidence that was required.

And it was more than enough to annoy the white haired youth.

"I can't believe this," Toushirou said as he gave up on sleep entirely and rose, getting dressed in his shihakusho and grabbing the sash that he used to secure Hyourinmaru across his back with. Deciding that he could use a little fresh air the prodigy secured his zanpaktou across his back and then left his room silently.

He wasn't sure if Ukitaken was awake yet but he didn't want to disturb the man if he wasn't.

And he really didn't want to deal with the man right now, his thoughts were too tumultuous and he wanted some time to himself to sort those out before he had to interact with anyone. It just seemed like a better idea than allowing his emotions to get the better of him and snapping at the man that was the only reason that he had managed to make anything of himself.

The man that had taken him in as though Toushirou were his son.

Leaving the Squad One barracks Toushirou walked across the courtyard, his teal eyes surveying the silhouettes that were cast by the darkness and the vague moonlight that bathed the grounds in a dull light. It was enough to see by once the kid's eyes adjusted to it and Toushirou wasn't really worried about coming across any threats. The Seireitei was the most heavily guarded location within the Soul Society so the chances of something getting inside that was a threat were slim to none. And even had that not been the case Toushirou was thinking that he was more than a match for anything that might happen to slip in.

It was certainly an arrogant way of looking at things but that was simply the way that the child was.

A couple of hours passed, during which time Toushirou actually traveled to the Rukongai and watched the sun rise from there, and then the white haired prodigy decided that it was probably a good idea to return to the Seireitei. He was supposed to report to his new squad on this day and even though he would once again say that he didn't care about what people thought of him Toushirou didn't want to be late and seem as though he was a slacker.

Since that was not a character trait that he possessed.

He had some that people would call negative however being lazy was something that no one could truthfully accuse him of.

With this thought in mind Toushirou made his way directly from the entrance to the Seireitei toward the barracks of Squad Three rather than returning to Squad One. Having been given a tour of the grounds already Toushirou knew exactly where the office was located and it was there that he headed, the white haired child prodigy knocking on the door once he had reached his destination and then awaiting permission to enter.

"You can come in…" a voice called out from within after only a few moments had passed.

Sliding the door open Toushirou entered the office, his gaze shifting around the room until he caught sight of the man that was wearing the white haori that marked him as the captain. The white haired prodigy briefly took in the man's slightly strange appearance, with his eyes that appeared closed and that grin that he'd already heard people talking about.

Always behind the man's back of course.

"Captain Ichimaru," the prodigy said with a polite bow, Toushirou displaying the fact that he could use manners when it suited his purposes. "Toushirou Hitsugaya reporting as ordered. I am a new graduate of the Academy and have been assigned to your squad."

"Welcome," Gin Ichimaru said, his already impossibly wide grin growing even more pronounced though how that was even possible was anyone's guess really. "You don't have to be so formal though, you can relax." If the man's eyes had been visible it would have immediately been noticeable that they held a calculating gleam within but given the way that he always seemed to squint that wasn't something that Toushirou was made aware of.

Which was likely a good thing as it would have spawned questions.

"Yes sir," Toushirou said, more to acknowledge the fact that he'd heard the words that the captain offered rather than an agreement to abide by them. He wasn't going to be familiar with this captain and he wanted no one to have cause to think that he was expecting special treatment or anything of the sort. To ensure that this was avoided Toushirou fully intended to be politely distant to anyone in authority and to the captain in particular.

Because it seemed the best way to avoid troubles.

"Hmm… so I read your file and I saw that you went through the Academy in only six months," Captain Ichimaru said, seeming to be studying something on the desk in front of him despite the fact that anyone that saw him would question how he was managing to read anything. "That's very impressive… I will have to test your abilities to see where you will fit into the squad."

"Yes sir, I understand," Toushirou said with a nod, having already known that this was standard practice whenever one of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads gained a new member so he had been expecting it from the beginning.

"We'll get to that later," Ichimaru said with a dismissive little shake of his head, not seeming to think that it was terribly important to test the prodigy immediately to find out where he would be seated as far as Squad ranks went.

Toushirou was a bit surprised by this statement but he didn't question it and instead just nodded his head to show that he had heard. He briefly debated questioning the man on that one, wondering why it was that he didn't seem to be in a hurry, but after a few moments the boy decided that it wasn't important enough to speak up about.

After all he was expecting some discord within the ranks once he was placed in the Squad, if his time at the Academy was any indication of how things were going to be, and he didn't mind a bit of a reprieve from that. There would be plenty of time to deal with people thinking that he had somehow managed to suck up enough to get into the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, of that he was certain, so delaying the inevitable wasn't a bad idea as far as he was concerned.

He did wonder why Ichimaru didn't seem to be in a hurry to evaluate him however.

"I think you should spend today just getting acquainted with the place, wander around, talk to some people," Ichimaru told the child prodigy, still grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "We can talk more about your assessment tomorrow." After saying this the man waved a dismissive hand in the kid's direction, more or less telling Toushirou that he was free to go even though he didn't actually come out and say those words.

Toushirou was left to think that he had managed to get stuck with one of the weirder captains but he didn't say this out loud. Instead he simply bowed to the man and then turned to leave the office, not really too keen about talking to people but deciding that he would at least look around the grounds and the Squad Three barracks since he was no doubt going to be spending a lot of time here.

"That was really strange…" Toushirou said quietly as he slid the door closed behind himself.

"You don't know the half of it…"

Toushirou drew up short as he heard this voice in his head, a voice that he'd heard before but that he still couldn't identify. It differed from the voice of Hyourinmaru, which he was intimately familiar with, and it actually had a hint of an underlying sinister quality to it.

Causing the young Shinigami to once again question what was going on with him.

Obviously he was different from the others but what was less obvious was just how much, even Toushirou couldn't produce an answer to that question.

Which was infuriating.

"So, still no word on any of the missing Shinigami?" Ukitake said as he gazed over at Urahara, knowing the answer even as he posed the question. Teams of Shinigami had been searching for the missing constantly but thus far updates on the situation had been few and far between.

"Nothing that we weren't already aware of," Urahara confirmed, a veiled look in his eyes. "I have teams that are looking into it but so far we still have more questions than answers unfortunately."

"I understand," Ukitake said, knowing that he couldn't be upset over the lack of information given just how hard everyone was trying. It was admittedly frustrating but the white haired man had become very good at hiding that and other negative emotions over the years.

"How is Toushirou doing?" Urahara said, changing the subject to something that he knew would be more pleasant for the white haired man to think about. He was well aware of the soft spot that Ukitake had for the young prodigy and so he figured this was a good way to change the tone of their conversation after the bad news that he had delivered. "I heard that he was placed in Squad Three…" His gaze gave no hint to his feelings on the matter and he managed to sound conversational as he said this.

"He did, he was supposed to report there this morning," Ukitake said, thinking about Toushirou as he spoke. "He was already gone when I woke this morning, I went to his room to wake him and found that he was gone so I guess I'll have to wait until he returns to find out how his first day went. I don't anticipate any problems however."

At least not any that Toushirou hadn't already been dealing with.

"I'm interested to see how he progresses now that he's outside of a classroom setting," Urahara said, his voice still conversational.

"I am as well," Ukitake said with a nod, the man thinking to himself that they may have to look into unsealing the powers that the boy possessed but for the moment he was refraining from bringing that up to Urahara or Unohana. If Toushirou could manage his duties and not be in danger with the seal in place then he felt it was for the best however he was not going to allow the boy to be put in danger just so that they could keep his powers in check.

Because then the benefits did not outweigh the risks.

A/N: It's all part of the evil plan, that's all there is to it. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and let me know what you thought.