Author's Note: Heh heh, everyone's so interested in the cross-dressing scene…XD It was soooo fun to write this chapter! And I hope it'll be as fun as when you read it! (High expectations but what the heck) And something's wacky with my grammar check thing so if there are any grammar mistakes, please inform me.

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Scroll Four – Grand Party at the Ball

"Ukitake-koutei," Yamamoto called to get the sickly emperor's attention before he bowed with utmost respect. Ukitake smiled and asked for the old captain to get up and dispense with the formalities when they were alone. Yamamoto simply bowed once more and thanked the white-haired emperor before taking a seat down in front of Ukitake's royal desk filled with scrolls and unfinished paperwork. "Ukitake-koutei, I have come here to notify you of the examination results."

Ukitake raised both of his eyebrows till they looked like as if they had blended with his white bangs. "Oh? You and the captains have already decided on the results that quickly? The last part of the exam ended merely five minutes ago."

Yamamoto cleared his throat deliberately. "…Let's just say that my captains are very efficient in their work." Sure, like you would call the various captains arguing non-stop and starting bloodbaths and causing Yamamoto to decide on letting all the candidates pass even if some failed just to make the captains stop with their violence 'efficient in their work'. Yamamoto shook his head slightly to get the frustrating memory out of his bald head and continued, "Ukitake-koutei, we have a one hundred percent pass this year. It's the best the Gotei 13 has ever seen."

"Really? That's great!" Ukitake exclaimed with excitement. Ten new members to the huge and vast family of shinigamis! He should throw a grand welcome party for them! "I bet my little aisoku will be glad to hear it. He'll be so surprised! And besides…he loves parties to death!"

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"I am not turning up. I hate parties to the core."

Ukitake Juushirou gaped. "Ok…So maybe he doesn't love parties that much anymore…" Closing his wide open jaw, he put on a relaxed smile and folded his arms casually. "Well, too bad for you then. I have already decided on the stunning outfit you'll be wearing that day."

When Hitsugaya opened his mouth to protest against wearing formal party yukata, Ukitake frowned and pointed a finger at him strictly. Hitsugaya immediately closed his mouth and crossed his arms, pouting. "…Yes, sir…"

At the consent, Ukitake smiled light-heartedly. At least his son knew what discipline meant. "Good. Now, my koushi-aisoku, go and get the yukata from Kiyone. Chop, chop! We don't have time to waste!" Ukitake cooed in a sing-song voice.

Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitched uncomfortably. "The party is…today?" Ukitake nodded excitedly. "…Today?" Hitsugaya asked, as if he had mistaken the nod for a shake. Ukitake still nodded. "To.Day.?" When he saw the strict but light-hearted glare from his emperor of a father, Hitsugaya gave a sigh in utter frustration. "Next time you hold a party, tell me beforehand so I can lock myself in the closet and become a dust nest till the party is over."

Ukitake comically brushed off the dust in his son's hair by stroking it continuously and gripped onto Hitsugaya's shoulders. "Very funny, Toushirou-kun. To think that you'll still resort to that even after the incident last year. I thought you were going to die from lack of oxygen."

Hitsugaya blushed and cringed at the memory suddenly flashing in his mind. He swatted Ukitake's hand away like a fly. "Aw, touuuuuu-saaaaaaaaaaaan!" he growled and moaned, the blush not leaving his young facial features. "You promised you wouldn't bring that up, dammit!"

"No cuss words, now, and trot along. You wouldn't want to be late for Ichigo-kun, would you?"

Hitsugaya's blush only deepened at his father's tease before he stomped away to find Kiyone. Ukitake could only chuckle at his young white-haired son's embarrassed reaction to his teasing. Figuring that he should also get prepared for the big night, Ukitake scratched the back of his head casually and went off to find Sentarou who was in charge of taking care of his formal royal yukata for the party. As he walked into the royal garden, he took in a sharp intake of pure clean oxygen and felt his lungs relax. It was such a good way to enjoy life, he decided. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around, coming face-to-face with someone who had a creepy smile etched on his features before he felt another knock against his neck as darkness began to engulf him.

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He couldn't get his eyes back into focus. He didn't know exactly when he woke up, and neither did he know exactly how long he had been out for, but he knew that he, Ukitake Juushirou, was in danger. Perhaps his worst fear had come true, that instead of his son whom he thought would be the target, he had been the one who was kidnapped so that the kidnappers could demand a ransom from the next heir to the throne. Or perhaps this was just some kind of sick plot to get rid of Hitsugaya when Ukitake wasn't around to protect him or warn him about the incoming danger. Or perhaps it was all just some kind of dream.

"'ello there, Ukitake-koutei." Ukitake blinked as his eyes went back into focus. The first thing he saw was the same creepy smile he noticed before he was knocked out.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Ukitake demanded.

"My, my, such 'n awful mood, ain't it?" the smiling fox asked no one in particular. "It ain't important ta' know who I am, but I'm here ta' warn ya 'bout somethin' concernin' yer son." Ukitake's eyes widened. He had been right all along; there were people out there who wanted to kill his son for the throne. "Yer gonna regret holdin' the party at the ball ta'night. Yer precious son will be taken away from ya at exactly twelve midnight ta'night."

Ukitake struggled against the ropes binding his hands and feet. He had to hurry; he had to hurry to get all the shinigamis to be on guard and protect Hitsugaya. There was absolutely no way he was going to let the villains take his only family left away from him. He didn't want to experience the pain of losing another loved one ever again; that he promised his kouhou on her deathbed. As if he had read his mind, the smiling fox-face spoke, "Even if ya put all them shinigamis on security twenty-four seven, it ain't gonna help. We 'ave planted moles in some of the Gotei 13 divisions, so it ain't wise of ya ta' do that, ain't it?" Ukitake felt so helpless at that point, but he still wouldn't let his son get taken away. No f-ing way.

"…Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid of getting executed?" Ukitake asked challengingly, hoping that it would scare whoever it was.

"Ya dun even know who I am, so ya can't just execute me like that. And even if I 'ave ta' die, it's fine, 'coz I ain't the mastermind of all this." With that, he chuckled and continued, "Whatever ya do ta' protect yer son will be useless. His fate is sealed; he will come with us and he will stay with us. Spend the remainin' five hours with yer son, Ukitake-koutei, 'coz it'll be yer last five hours with 'im."

A blurred flying fist came into contact with his head and he passed out once more.

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For the next fifteen minutes, Hitsugaya Toushirou was literally hiding his shame by covering his red face with a random empty plate he was holding onto. His teal eyes glanced around when he occasionally let the plate down from covering his face. Where the hell was that bun girl? He needed to clear things up with her before he headed back to his room and change into something more comfortable than the itchy, and not to mention very glaring with its bright vibrant colors, yukata he was forced to wear. He remembered when he cautiously stepped into the ballroom, all eyes were on him and he was so damned embarrassed that he immediately rushed into the kitchen to get the plate.

Frustrated, he decided to retreat back into his room, not able to stand hiding his shame anymore until the familiar high-pitched squeal called him, "Shirou-chaaaan! Over here!"

Twitching, Hitsugaya put the plate down and marched over to where Hinamori was waving. That was when he noticed this recognizable brown-haired spectacled man standing next to her. He was wearing a chocolate brown yukata with an obi that took on an even darker shade of brown, and the haori he was wearing seemed all too trademark. Oh. Right. The damned announcer from earlier. Hitsugaya was going to make him pay for embarrassing him in public like that. What the hell was the connection between Hinamori and this guy? "Hello, Hitsugaya-koushi. It's such an honor to meet you again."

"You were the emcee, weren't you?" Hitsugaya asked suspiciously, folding his arms. "So, what was your purpose for embarrassing me like that earlier on?"

Aizen plainly smiled at him innocently. "Oh, whatever are you talking about, Hitsugaya-koushi? I just asked for a small little harmless demonstration from you. Was that too much to ask of you?"

Hinamori stepped in to prevent a heated argument (in Hitsugaya's opinion) from happening. "That's right, Shirou-chan! Aizen-taichou means no harm!"

Hitsugaya cocked an eyebrow. Taichou, hmm? She and Aizen were somewhat connected to each other after all. More than he expected…Damn, Hinamori should be more careful about the captain she chose to serve under. Somehow, this Aizen fellow just couldn't seem to be trusted at all… "I'll let it slip for now. On your account, Hinamori," Hitsugaya added. "And it's Hitsugaya-koushi. It's frustrating enough to correct one certain person already; don't add anymore salt to the wound." Instead of obeying and replying with a, 'I understand, Hitsugaya-koushi' or something like that, Hinamori began giggling instead, and Aizen was still smiling with a light-hearted chuckle. Hitsugaya was confused. "…What? Was it something I said?"

Hinamori covered her mouth, trying to stop the giggles from coming out, but she couldn't help pointing at him, speaking and forcing the words out of her mouth, "No…Hee hee…I-it's…You're…" Pausing for a while to laugh it out loud, earning herself curious stares from the guests in the room, Hinamori bowed shyly to excuse for her behavior, but the smile was still on her face. She was biting her lower lip to prevent herself from laughing any further. Hitsugaya was still confused. "Um…Hitsugaya-koushi, it's not something you said…It's just that…you look so cute when you blush!!!"

"W-what?!" Hitsugaya blinked and backed away. He, the cool and aloof heir to the throne to succeed his father, who practically didn't give a damn about many things in life, blushed?! Since when the hell did he do that?! Ok, sure…So maybe his childish father teased him earlier…Why was he blushing so often all of a sudden recently? It didn't make sense; not at all.

"It's true, Shirou-I mean, Hitsugaya-koushi!" Hinamori giggled once more. "Once you talked about correcting that special someone, your face started becoming all red! It's so cute, Shirou-chan!"

What the hell?! He was blushing because of mentioning Kurosaki in passing?! Since when did he like that clown anyway? "U-um…Let's forget about that for now, Hinamori. I need to talk to you about something…"

Apparently, the blush refused to leave as much as he was willing it to leave, seeing that Hinamori was struggling to stifle her giggles as she nodded. Hitsugaya led her to the balcony, away from the crowd and most importantly, away from that Aizen guy. "Ok, Shirou-chan, what do you want to talk about?"

"Hitsugaya-koushi, Hinamori. Remember that."

"Riiight…So what do you wanna talk about?" Hinamori enquired chirpily.

"Hmph," Hitsugaya scoffed at Hinamori's ignorance. "About last time."

"Oh. What about last time?" Hinamori asked like as if nothing happened.

"Well…Remember all those years ago, when we first met in one of the states in Rukongai and we wasted one entire day on playing?"

Hinamori looked sullen. "Oh…That…And then you suddenly said that you were going home and you never came back…"

Hitsugaya sighed, "About that…You see, koutei-otousan decided that it would be good to bring me out to check on the Rukongai states. Like how koutei-otousan is supposed to check on the states and make sure that everything is alright…That day, he decided to bring me out there, to broaden my experience and knowledge."

"…But you dressed up like some ruffian, Shirou-chan."

Hitsugaya resisted the urge to knock her head for her mild stupidity, but that was mean, even for him. "Baka…Do you think koutei-otousan and I were supposed to dress like royalties and scare everyone away? How do you think we were supposed to blend in with the citizens to learn more about their lifestyle?"

"So…" Hinamori's eyes widened and she backed away from Hitsugaya, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Oh my goodness!!! So you're like, some kind of royal undercover spy!"

Hitsugaya sweat dropped and sighed again. "Sure…You can put it in that nasty way if you want…" he muttered under his breath, resting his chin on his palm.

"Oh…I-I'm sorry, Hitsugaya-kun, I didn't mean it," she apologized, bowing. "Do you mind being called Hitsugaya-kun, by the way?"

Hitsugaya raised his silvery white eyebrows at the sudden change in subject. "…I don't exactly care…Just don't call me Shirou-chan."

"Ok, Shirou-chan! I mean, Hitsugaya-kun!"

Hitsugaya sighed and rolled his eyes just as Kiyone and Sentarou suddenly barged in, looking really flustered. "H-Hitsugaya-koushi!" both of them acknowledged simultaneously, glaring at each other before bowing.

"What's the matter now?" Hitsugaya asked seriously, getting off the high-legged chair in the balcony.

"Ukitake-koutei has asked for your presence in his room!" Kiyone replied enthusiastically, pushing Sentarou further and further away by using her foot to stomp against his face. Sentarou was taking a mental note that for a girl, his rival for attention and glory sure was acting like a tomboy. "He said that it's an emergency and that he would like to see you now!"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. That wasn't like his father to ask for him out of the blue…And since when did his cheerful, happy-go-lucky father had an emergency aside from a relapse? He was curious. Very curious. "Did koutei-otousan say anything else?"

"Yes! He said that he has to give you something before midnight or else something bad will happen to you!"

Whoa, that serious? Hitsugaya couldn't believe what he was hearing. It must be really important, otherwise why else would Ukitake want him to be in his room where no one else was around? "Really…? Alright, I'll go there now." Hitsugaya turned around to face Hinamori. "Well, Hinamori, that's all I wanted to say to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and meet koutei-otousan."

"Alright, Hitsugaya-kun. Take care," Hinamori bid her farewells, bowing with respect.

In the corner of the ballroom, one Kurosaki Ichigo was wondering to himself where his favorite little white-haired prince was walking off to in such a hurry.

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Knock knock

Ukitake nearly jumped from the seat on his large royal bed, which was even larger than Hitsugaya's, at the sound of the knocks on the doors to his room. "C-come in," he stuttered, hoping that it was his son and not the same people he encountered that afternoon. His head still hurt from the blows he received, but he tried to hide the bruises with his white bangs.

Hitsugaya opened the door and entered the grand royal bedroom, twice the size of his own, and it came with Ukitake's personal bathroom coated in gold and silver whereas Hitsugaya's was coated in just silver and some bits were in gold, of course, and not to mention that his was slightly smaller in size compared to his father's personal bathroom. Hitsugaya closed the door as he walked towards his father and took a seat next to him. "You called for me, father?"

To his surprise, Ukitake embraced him in a hug. "…Yes. I needed to tell you something. It's very important." Hitsugaya didn't say anything to let Ukitake continue with what he intended to say. Now he could safely assume either his father was being a nutcase or something bad was going to happen and he knew of it. Hitsugaya went for the second option. "My aisoku…" As Ukitake let go of Hitsugaya from his hug, he gripped onto Hitsugaya's shoulders so tightly it made the white-haired boy flinch a little. "My aisoku, you know I don't want anything bad to befall upon you, right?" Hitsugaya slowly nodded, not really knowing where this was getting to. His father was acting strangely…Was it because of that worry of losing him of which it plagued him since his mother's tragic death? No, it couldn't be. Ukitake was uptight about that, but not this uptight. "Promise me, Toushirou, no matter what happens later at midnight, you'll always remember me?"

"Koutei-otousan…What-?"

"Just promise that no matter what happens, you'll always place this old man in your heart?"

Knowing that 'old man' was referring to none other than himself, Hitsugaya sighed and gave in. Yup, he was still going for the second option. "I promise, koutei-otousan."

"And promise that you'll keep yourself safe from all villains aiming for the throne. Promise that you'll never succumb to the darkness that is coming to get you; do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

He knew that his son was finding it all too strange, but it was best if he didn't know about the horrible plan. At least, not yet. Not till he gave him that. Ukitake continued, "Good boy. Now come along, I have a little surprise for you." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. The mood suddenly changed, he felt. "Come," his father cooed as he walked over to the closet and opened the door, digging through the mess of clothes to look for something. "Ah…Here it is!"

Hitsugaya instantly twitched upon laying eyes on that thing. (A/N: Think destructive twisted bunny emoticon, aka o.O, to get a better imaginary image of the scene) "Koutei-otousaaaaaaaan…" he growled in a dangerous, but rather playful, tone. "Do not tell me you're intending to…?" Now Hitsugaya was going for the first option.

"Ah, your intuition is as sharp as ever, my beloved little prince," Ukitake commented with a huge smile, pinching his son's face. Hitsugaya swatted his hand away like a cow's tail swatting stinky flies away and folded his arms, pouting on purpose. Ukitake wiggled his index finger as if saying no. "Tsk tsk tsk, pouting will get you nowhere, my little aisoku, so I suggest you cut the cute act and put this on immediately."

"Why the hell are you doing this, father…?" Hitsugaya moaned, slapping his forehead.

"Watch your language, son. And I'm doing this because I'm trying to protect you," Ukitake replied, starting to shove Hitsugaya into the bathroom and forcing him to get changed by first removing the upper half of his yukata.

"Asking me to wear that dreadful cursed thing is your way of protecting me?" Hitsugaya spat coldly. "What's going on?! Why are you suddenly acting like this? This isn't like you at all, father!"

"Son…I don't know how to put this, ok? Look, it's best if you don't know and put this on at once…"

Hitsugaya held onto Ukitake's wrists and gripped onto them tightly. "You're worrying me, father. Speak your mind; there is no one else here but me," Hitsugaya murmured. "What are you afraid of?"

Ukitake sighed sadly. Somehow, his son's words of wisdom never failed to convince him to speak the truth. "Toushirou…I've been told that at the stroke of midnight tonight…You'll be taken away by those dastardly villains I've always been telling you about…There's no way to stop them or prevent any of this from happening, so…"

"So you want me to wear that piece of sh-um, that thing?" Hitsugaya hastily corrected himself. "Otousan, why can't you just get the shinigamis on guard or something? There's has to be a way out of this. I'm not leaving you all by yourself, father."

"There's no way out, Toushirou. There are moles planted among the Gotei 13 Divisions; there's no one I can trust."

"Moles? Did koutei-otousan say that there are moles planted among the Gotei 13 Divisions? Could that…spectacled freak of a captain to Hinamori be…one of them…?" Hitsugaya thought to himself suspiciously.

"So please, Toushirou, please bear with this till midnight. I can't guarantee that it'll work, but…" Ukitake sighed and rubbed his eyes, as if he was about to cry. "Son…I…I just can't lose you the way I lost your mother…alright? I just…can't. And if this doesn't work, I…I don't know what I'll do, but this is all I can come up with. Toushirou, I…"

Hitsugaya's heart immediately softened. He snatched the clothes from his father's grasp. "…Give me that."

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Ichigo was having the time of his life, bragging on and on about his strength and his capabilities that helped him in passing the test with flying colors. Of course he didn't forget congratulating his newfound friends that he found in the other candidates besides his childhood friend Ishida, but still, the bragging couldn't be ignored. Ishida was sighing away and repositioning his spectacles every now and then, muttering to himself that Ichigo was taking things way too lightly. After all, he was placed last in the exams…Not that the boastful strawberry really knew about that. Let's just say that Ishida and the other candidates decided to keep it their little secret and pretend that Hanatarou came in last for the exams. It wasn't exactly a lie either; Hanatarou was placed second last, since he scored half a mark higher than Ichigo.

"Anou…(um…) Kurosaki-kun, I think you're hungry by now…Why don't you get some food?" Orihime offered, trying to get Ichigo to stop boasting. "You must be hungry, Kurosaki-kun!"

"Ah? Well, alright…But I was getting to the best part; the part where I saved Ishida's ass!" Ichigo moaned before he got dragged away by the arm by Orihime.

"Hmph. The only thing that buffoon saved me from was a nest of fire red ants, and that was when we were six," Ishida stated with slightly hurt pride in his voice, repositioning his spectacles once more. He still couldn't forgive that Ichigo for showing him the 'cool' nest in the first place, otherwise he wouldn't be bitten all over his body. "And anyway, Kurosaki-kun didn't do anything. He just stood there and watched till he finally got a stick to chase the ants away." In reality, Ichigo was attempting to squash the ants on Ishida's body, hitting Ishida in the process. Of course the spectacled archer knew that the orange strawberry deliberately wanted to hurt him using the guise of killing the ants crawling and biting his body. Well, Ichigo wasn't only a baka; he was a bastard, period.

"Attention, attention!" Sentarou exclaimed, earning a hmph from Kiyone amongst the crowd. "Please welcome our dear Ukitake-koutei and his…niece…" Sentarou emphasized before clearing his throat. "…Ukitake Syaoshiro!"

Everyone in the room blinked and stared at each other. Since when did Ukitake have a niece? And where was the koushi? Ichigo was bewildered as he stepped away from the large array of food and went nearer to take a closer look. Ok, Ukitake was there with a warm smile on his face; that was normal. What wasn't normal was the person he saw walking behind him. It was a girl wearing a bright pink yukata with a magenta obi and beautiful sakura petal embroidery decorated on the yukata. The sleeves were so long that they covered her hands completely, but Ichigo could still barely see small petite fingers from underneath the sleeves. What was amazing was that she had the Ukitake family-exclusive white hair combed back into a small spiky bun-like pigtail, and a small sakura-like hair accessory clipping up a rather familiar wisp of white hair to prevent it from covering her piercing emerald eyes that held unmatched beauty.

He fell deeply in love with her without thinking twice.

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A/N: It's very obvious who it is, isn't it? (jumps for joy) I find this chapter cute and really fun to write, despite little Tou-chan getting into impending danger.

Next chapter: So our little strawberry has found love at last, but Syaoshiro isn't what she seems. Of course not; and it seems that his dream has been fulfilled. He gets to have a dance with the beautiful Snow White aka you-know-who. Will she -ahem- he find love in Ichigo too? And -gasp- it's midnight! What'll happen now?