Yes, I redid this chapter. If I had followed up the chapter before, then I would have veered of course from what I had planned to do, so I decided on going back to the original line. I don't know whether you're all unhappy with the fact I deleted the last chapter, but please bear with my little insanities. As of tomorrow, school will be reopening again, and that means the updates will get slower. Don't worry people; I don't plan to leave this story hanging for too long. As for now, I give you the second seventh chapter!
Special thanks to coco0106, OShayO, aznpinayshinigami, soulcollector, Sleeve of White Snow, Jay Kamiya, Rasgara, Shichimaru Gin, Dragonrider Kohaku, TFKeyes, Lea Cat, IlliterateGuy, Cerulean Soul and Lady Nessa Fefalas for reviewing the previous (sixth) chapter of Reincarnation of Ice. Now on to the replies of your questions/comments:-
Coco0106: I'll have to see first whether or not to put lovey-dovey content into the story. Hinata reminds you of Hinamori because she's the reincarnation of her. If you still don't understand, go read the first chapter of Frozen Memories.
IlliterateGuy & Cerulean Soul: Matsumoto is not a substitute teacher. She's a new teacher. The old history teacher retired and she took his/her post. Gin was on leave for two weeks due to personal reasons and only came back a week after Matsumoto became a teacher. Is that clear enough for you?
Lady Nessa Fefalas: To know about Getsushirou and Renhana, I recommend you read Frozen Memories. This story is its follow-up. By the way, thanks for the prep talk! I really appreciate it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. However, I do own the storyline and OC's for this fanfiction.
Reincarnation of Ice
Chapter 7: Brother
Shihou looked at the person sitting on the other side of the table, searching his face for any signs of falsehood. He betrayed none of which. Letting out a sigh, she took a sip of the green tea that she had not touched since the man had entered. She noted vaguely that it had gone cold, but didn't pay much mind to it. Looking at Officer Yoshino Matsuzaki she simply asked him.
"He managed to wring an early parole out of the government's hands, hasn't he?" To her ears and his, it sounded more like a statement than a question. She had known the answer for a long time but hadn't made an attempt to voice her suspicions until now.
"Yes," Yoshino said plaintively, trying to sound neutral in this kind of situation, but Shihou didn't miss the underlying distaste in the man's voice. It seems that the man felt uneasy about the release, and didn't like letting him out any more than she did.
Him, the person that she had hoped would stay in jail forever.
Looking at Yoshino solemnly, her eyes shone with a certain kind of determination. "Don't tell my younger siblings about this."
The message in her golden eyes was clear, and the officer complied immediately, nodding his head in acceptance. He wasn't about to risk anything with this woman. If that man was as dangerous, then this woman could easily be the same when it came to matters like this.
After all, the apple never fell far from the tree, and the officer still had a family of his own to feed.
Toushirou walked down the hallway, balancing a stack of paperwork that had been done for the student body council in his hands. Normally Hinata would have been the one to this kind of work -seeing that she was the secretary, after all- but she hadn't turned up at school today. When passing her house this morning, Hinata Kaho-san, Momo's mother, had told him that she had caught a cold last night and wasn't well enough to go to school. Thus it was left to him, as her best friend to help her collect her homework and do her duties (which were marginally lesser than his).
Soon, he walked out of the co-curriculum building and down the walkway towards the staff building that was just beside it. Upon entering the teacher's lounge, he made his way to Eisetsu's workspace, which was unfortunately just after Matsumoto's workspace. However, when he took a look into her space, he wasn't surprised to find her missing. Bracing himself, he knocked on the wall outside of the next workspace. As expected, Matsumoto had been there and he was immediately squeezed by the woman's humongous breasts (which he was starting to detest). He wondered how that woman could even walk properly with those monstrosities.
"Oi, Matsumoto," he said huffily, trying his best to breath properly. "Get off of me."
"Oh you're no fun," She replied with a pout, prying herself away from him.
Looking at the snickering teacher behind her, Toushirou promptly glared at him. He immediately dumped the paperwork into Eisetsu's lap, earning an undignified yelp from the surprised teacher.
"Tou-kun, couldn't you be a bit gentler?" The teacher said, putting the paperwork on the table and wincing slightly at the numbness of his legs. "You could have just put them on the desk, ne Ran-chan?"
Toushirou let out a sigh of his own at this. All in all, he had been somewhat wrong in his guess about Eisetsu's abilities to control Matsumoto. Sure he could stop her from doing too many crazy things, but when it came down to sake breaks and annoying him, those two would always be partners-in-crime.
Suddenly, Toushirou noted a change in Eisetsu's demeanor. The man had looked his easy-going self a moment ago, but now he was looking at him with a very serious expression.
"You look troubled," he stated simply. "Is something bothering you?"
And Eisetsu was right as always when it came to perceiving how others felt. Lately, Shihou had been having this kind of dark expression on her face. Yes she always looked serious, like she was about to bite your head off if you said anything wrong (as Hecate's friend Ayaka had once described her). But Toushirou always knew how to distinguish when she was her usual unsmiling self and when it was that dark, worried expression. He had asked her a few times what was wrong, but she had always replied him with one of her rare small smiles, saying that she was fine and just thinking about something. It did trouble him greatly that she was hiding something. She and he were very close, and none of them kept a secret from one another unless it was... Toushirou shook his head at that. Shihou would never do anything that would endanger herself or her family. He was certain of that at least.
Bidding a quick goodbye to the two teachers, he made his way back to the student body office.
Passing the courtyard gardens and going further down the path, he was soon reached the co-curriculum building. Making his way up the second floor, he walked pass the choir room as they sang a traditional Japanese folk song and opened the next door. As soon as he set foot into the office, the vice-secretary Hanamino Saya walked up in front of him, looking slightly flustered. Straightening her glasses, she thanked him silently for delivering the paperwork. With her small and slight frame, it would have been too much to handle on her own. Suddenly the phone at Hinata's table rang, and the treasurer Ayakasa Ritsu who was the closest to it picked up the phone. After listening to the person on the other line for a few minutes, he nodded his head and said something too soft for them to hear from the other side of the room. Finally putting down the receiver, he turned to Toushirou.
"It's the gardening club," he drawled lazily, doodling on his paperwork and earning a glare from Saya. She would always have to redo his paperwork later due to the fact that there were too many doodles. Toushirou sometimes wondered whether Ritsu did that on purpose just to do lesser work.
"What do they want?" Nagaya asked from across the room, flipping through a book and not even bothering to look up.
"There's some guy outside the gate loitering, and the girls are scared that it's a kidnapper."
"Tell them to call the guards," Toushirou replied, picking up a file lying on his desk and flipping through it quickly. "It's not something we should take note of unless the person's on school grounds."
"That's what I told them, boss."
Toushirou grunted softly and settled down on his seat at the end of the room. Saya walked over to her desk by Hinata's and settled down as well. He was half way through the last mountain of paperwork when the phone rang for the second time. This time Saya picked it.
"It's the guards," she said after putting down the phone. "They had a little trouble getting the guy to move."
"Why's that?" Nagaya asked, still not looking up.
"It seems that the man is looking for someone that's studying in this school, but he doesn't know the class and refuses to say the name."
"But is the guy gone?"
"According to the guards, yes."
"Then it's no longer a problem," Toushirou said, concluding the entire affair.
Soon enough the work got done and it was almost four in the afternoon. Picking up his bag, Toushirou nodded a farewell to Ritsu and Saya who were staying back to finish some left over work. Walking pass the field he could see the soccer team practice shooting their goals and the cheerleaders doing their latest routine. Soon he reached the front gate and after tapping his student card on the scanner, the machine made a bleeping sound and the gate slowly opened. Walking out as the door groaned to a halt and after a few minutes began closing again, he made his way pass a couple of shops and pass a non-descript bookstore where he usually bought his weekly magazines and manga. Turning around a corner, he passed a park and turned into another street.
Toushirou could feel someone watching him from some unknown place, and after turning around this many corners he was certain the person was indeed there. Taking a deep breath, he deftly turned around another bend in the road and broke into a run. He could hear the person follow suit behind him. Quickly, he ran across a busy street as the pedestrian light was just about to turn red. The man tried to follow, but the cars had already begun moving and Toushirou had already turned around another corner.
After running for a while, Toushirou halted to a stop, panting slightly from the excursion. Looking over his back, he could discern that the person following him had not managed to catch up with him. Walking at a more leisurely pace, Toushirou began taking a more round-a-bout way back to his home. It would take time, but it would be safer. He may not know who this stalker was, but he definitely wasn't planning on being alone with that person anywhere.
His instincts were on high alert, and Hyuuga Toushirou was one to trust his instincts.
It had been a week since the stalker incident and Toushirou still felt like he was being watched. At the beginning he had used multiple round-a-bout ways to return home, but had given up when the feelings of being watched and scrutinized like a guinea pig hadn't faded. It was quite obvious that this particular person knew where he lived so there was no use wasting his energy. Either the stalker had done his research well or had known from the very beginning where he lived.
With a frown, Toushirou analyzed his brain for any potential enemies he might have made or have had over the pass few years. Nagaya was of course, one of them, but his ego wouldn't allow him to do what he deemed a disgraceful act. And as far as he knew, he had not made any enemies that would hold a grudge big enough to resort such actions. There could still be a possibility that it was one of his more rabid fans from his 'fan club' at school -or so Hiro had slyly pointed out the other day, but Toushirou had felt a certain kind of malice in the glare directed at him, and he wasn't about to take any chances. There was one enemy he could consider, but that particular person was still in the gallows as far as he was concerned.
Walking out the grocery store with his mother's order of groceries, he was so engrossed in his thoughts that he barely missed banging into a lamp post. Swearing under his breath, he concentrated on the road instead. No use musing over things he had no control over; and no use getting scolded by his mother for breaking the eggs needed for tonight's dinner. After all, winter was almost here, and he planned on having a nice winter break this term.
Turning a corner, he made his way across the busy street. He was half way across when he accidentally bumped into someone. He was about to apologize when he saw the face of the man he had collided into.
It wasn't possible.
The man's face looked surprised at first, but soon it melted into a smirk.
"Well, long time no see-"
He was supposed to be in jail.
"- little brother."
"Natsume!"
Yes, it's somewhat short, but I decided to stop it there. What do you think? Good? Bad? Sucks? Rocks? Review and tell me. It only takes a moment of your time. Until the next chapter, I bid you a Happy New Year!