Author's Note: My thanks to those who reviewed and/or put this story under alerts/favorites. I appreciate them! Here comes chapter 3/4, whichever you prefer to call. (Hey, that rhymes.)
I'm currently using my personal laptop which can't type Japanese so the go-in-between thingys I usually put in bold and Japanese will be replaced by the English word, Bleach, which is the direct translation of course. When I get the chance to use the computer which types Japanese characters, I'll change it to Jap.
Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.
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Chapter 3 - The One Who is Being Suspected
Insantly, all of the captains sweat dropped anime-style at the sight. A big pile of snow with a black hakama and tobi sticking out of it was what they saw outside the 10th Division. "Toushirou-kun..." Yamamoto gained the boy's attention. "This is Hyousetsu-taichou's problem?"
"Mm!" Toushirou nodded his head. "He was trying to shunpo off to his division. then I fell off his back and he was trying to get me when he slipped and fell into the snow." Toushirou tugged at Yamamoto's loose captain haori. "Ne, Yamamoto-ojiichan, you have a fire zanpakutou, don't you? Can you help melt the snow?"
Yamamoto was surprised, and so were the other captains. The young amnesiac shinigami before them actually knew that Yamamoto had a fire zanpakutou, which wasn't possible. He just suddenly appeared out of nowhere and yet, he knew about Yamamoto's zanpakutou. What else did the boy know? Yamamoto replied, "Now, Toushirou-chan, I'm sure Hyousetsu-taichou can get out this by himself. He's a taichou, after all."
Moreover...it seemed pretty ironic that someone who had complete control over ice and snow couldn't get out of a big pile of it.
"Huh? Are you sure?" Toushirou seemed doubtful. "Hyousetsu-oniichan says that he can't breathe in there."
"Toushirou...!" an annoyed voice, obviously belonging to Hitsugaya, warned Toushirou. "I. Can't. Breathe..."
"See?" Toushirou declared, pointing at the snow pile. Nearly all the captains laughed at this. Nearly.
"Who's with you?" Hitsugaya asked, his feet kicking the air as if struggling to get out. After all, the snow was thick and he couldn't hear properly what was going on out there.
"You'll know later, Hyousetsu-oniichan!" Toushirou shouted for Hitsugaya to hear who grunted in reply. "Yamamoto-ojiichan, please help him."
"Ah, but dear child..." Yamamoto sweat dropped. "I'm afraid you won't be able to handle the reiatsu level..."
"It's okay!" Toushirou replied with a huge grin. "If Jyuushirou-oniichan and Shunsui-oniichan can handle it, why can't I do it too?"
The named pair of friends blinked and looked at each other. They had yet to introduce themselves to Toushirou but he knew their names. Moreover, he knew that they were able to resist Yamamoto's reiatsu level. What was going on?
Yamamoto glanced at his students then at Toushirou. "Very well, Toushirou-kun." He then gave orders to the captains, "If any of you or Toushirou-kun feel unwell, please stay away from here."
"Hai!"
"All right, I'll just grant you this one request, Toushirou-kun." Yamamoto banged his staff against the ground, causing the staff to transform into his zanpakutou. He began to raise his reiatsu to a suitable level to release his shikai. The captains tried to remain strong, but the reiatsu level was too much for some of them to handle. Soi Fong began coughing away, Byakuya reluctantly removed his very expensive scarf, Unohana stepped back, Komamura removed the mask covering his face and stepped back, Zaraki felt a little bit shaky while Mayuri stepped back the furthest. (A/N: I am so mean; I made Mayuri the weakest down here. XD) Only Ukitake and Kyouraku stood proud and strong. Toushirou began fanning himself because of the immense heat. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. The fiery hot reiatsu began melting the snow and a nearly suffocated Hitsugaya fell onto a big puddle of water formed from the melted snow. Yamamoto sealed back his reiatsu and his zanpakutou resumed the appearance of the staff once more.
"Ah! Hyousetsu-oniichan!" Toushirou called excitedly, treating Yamamoto's reiatsu change like as if it were nothing. He ran over to Hitsugaya's side. "Are you okay, Hyousetsu-oniichan?"
Hitsugaya sat up, taking huge intakes of breath. His usually gelled-up hair stooped down and covered his eyes, reaching his shoulders. Now he and Toushirou looked like twins. Ukitake grinned at the sight. "Ah. I'm okay, Toushirou," replied Hitsugaya, ruffling Toushirou's hair.
"Hyousetsu-taichou, may I have a word with you?" Yamamoto asked, making it sound like an order.
Hitsugaya's face reddenned in embarrassment. "H-hai, soutaichou." He then faced Toushirou and patted his head. "Ok, Toushirou, you can go to your new room now. Stay in there and don't come out unless I tell you yo, okay?"
"Ok!" came Toushirou's chirpy reply.
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"Hitsugaya-taichou, I have a few suspicions about the boy you are taking care of," Yamamoto told Hitsugaya in private. Well, one would not call it private, seeing that all the captains of the Gotei 13 were present.
"Hai," Hitsugaya replied, bowing. "May I ask what they are?"
"Firstly," Yamamoto started. "Soul Society was plagued by strange weather patterns that can only occur during a harsh winter season. Coincidentally, the child who looks like you suddenly appeared here in Seireitei in the standard shihakushou, but he has no memory of what happened before he arrived here and he even claims to be you."
"Sir, you're not actually suspecting that Toushirou could be the cause of the strange weather, are you?"
Yamamoto ignored the white-haired prodigy's correct guess. "Secondly, he has no zanpakutou, so there is something wrong with him wearing the shihakushou with no zanpakutou anywhere on him. Moreover, there is no division symbol located in his shihakushou so it would mean that he belongs to none of the divisions."
"...So you're suspecting Toushirou isn't a shinigami as well?"
"That brings me to my third point, Hitsugaya-taichou," Yamamoto continued. "If he isn't a shinigami, how did he learn about the art of shunpo? He used shunpo to get to the meeting hall from your division. While you had trouble with it, he, on the other hand, did not. In fact, he took little time to come to me for help. He has mastered the art of shunpo, even though I have my reason to suspect that he isn't a shinigami. Moreover, according to your reports about the Arrancars Aizen created, they have their own version of shunpo, do they not? Up till now, we can't even confirm whether he's a shinigami or not." Seeing that Hitsugaya didn't reply, Yamamoto continued, "Lastly, he knows the way to the meeting hall, showing that he knows the way around Seireitei. He also knows some pieces of history as to what happened during Kuchiki Rukia's trial, as well as my zanpakutou and Ukitake-taichou's and Kyouraku-taichou's first names. Don't these points make you suspicious of the child as well, Hitsugaya-taichou?"
Hitsugaya looked at the snow-covered grounds, trying to avoid Yamamoto's strict gaze. He knew Yamamoto still had another suspicion, but he didn't ask for it. Hitsugaya had felt a bond of some sort with Toushirou and didn't want to suspect the child. He waited for Yamamoto to say something and he did. "Therefore, I suspect that the child is no ordinary spiritual being. He managed to resist the reiatsu change just now, which only a few captains are able to do so. Thus I can conclude that his reiatsu is most likely that of a captain-class reiatsu. With such high reiatsu, I don't think I can even believe he is amnesiac."
"..."
"Hitsugaya-taichou, I hope you can watch the boy well, and report to me any other suspicious points. Is that understood?"
"...Hai..."
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"Yamamoto-soutaichou, are you sure we can trust the 10th Division captain with the boy?" Byakuya asked as soon as Hitsugaya went back to his division office.
Yamamoto replied, "I trust Hitsugaya-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou. I believe that he knows what he has to do."
"Yes, but can you really trust him?" Soi Fong asked this time. "What will happen if it turns out that Hitsugaya-taichou will become like that traitorous bastard, Aizen?"
"I think that he won't," Ukitake spoke. "He has no reason to, after all. All we can do is watch them closely now."
"And in your case, give them candy," Kyouraku teased, knowing his buddy all too well.
"Why, yes! Which reminds me, I got them both a box of chocolates each! I should give them when I see them again."
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Hitsugaya was doing the pile of paperwork while he watched Matsumoto play with Toushirou occasionally. Signing paper after paper, the white-haired captain sighed, still feeling very troubled about what Yamamoto had told him earlier. He watched Matsumoto tickle Toushirou, causing the boy to giggle like the child he was. Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. Was Toushirou really as innocent as he looked? What if Yamamoto's suspicions were proven to be true?
Sighing again, Hitsugaya went back to his paperwork. Noticing Hitsugaya's troubled look, Matsumoto asked, "Taichou, are you all right? You've been sighing away since you came back from outside."
"It's nothing, Matsumoto," replied Hitsugaya as he signed one more piece of paper.
"If you say so, taichou," Matsumoto then turned to face Toushirou, and smiled. "Ne, Toushirou-chan, what do you want to play next?"
Hitsugaya mentally slapped himself. He felt like it was Matsumoto talking to him. Toushirou giggled agian and said, "I don't know! Anything, I guess!" Then he blinked and looked at Hitsugaya. "Hyousetsu-oniichan, play with us!"
Hitsugaya blinked. "Play? With you?" If Hitsugaya agreed to that request, he'd be the laughing stock in the whole of Soul Society. He was a captain, and he had duties to cover, as well as completing the stack of paperwork. And besides, he hated anything that seemed childish to him.
"Uh-huh. Pretty please?" Toushirou begged, showing puppy dog eyes.
Hitsugaya immediately softened. "...Alright."
Matsumoto's eyes widened at his reply. "Taichou, are you-?"
"Yes, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya cut in. "I'll be playing." He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so shocked about that?"
"It's just that..." Matsumoto ran over to Hitsugaya and hugged him without warning. "Taichou, you're finally acting your age!"
Hitsugaya twitched while a vein could be seen throbbing. "Matsumoto, I'm 150 years old. You make it sound like as if I'm 5!" (A/N: I made up his age.)
Before his fukutaichou could reply, Toushirou began nudging the two, "Come on! Let's play, let's play!"
Matsumoto immediately let go of her taichou and ran over to pick Toushirou up. "Ok, you cutie! What shall we play?"
"Hmm...I wanna play Hide and Seek!"
Hitsugaya looked around at his office. Where could they possibly hide and seek in such a cramped place? Moreover, Hitsugaya didn't want them to play in his office. He had paperwork and ink slabs on his desk! If any of them were to knock against the desk, the ink would spill over and...
Hitsugaya didn't want to think about that. Oh, the horrors!
"Shouldn't we play outside where it's safer?" Hitsugaya asked, not wanting all the (precious) paperwork to get ruined.
"Ok! There's snow anyway and we can have a snowball fight!"
Hitsugaya resisted the urge to twitch.
A snowball fight?
Such action displayed would be so unbecoming of a captain!
Hitsugaya hoped he wouldn't need to get involved...
＜ブリーチ＞
...but unfortunately, he was.
SPLAT!
Hitsugaya got hit in the face. Again. Shoving the cold numbing snow off his face, Hitsugaya got greeted by yet another snowball tossed by Toushirou. Matsumoto couldn't stop giggling at the sight. Her taichou getting hit in the face by a snowball with every wipe of his face was priceless. Toushirou seemed to be winning already.
SPLAT!
"Matsumoto...!"
"Sorry taichou! I couldn't help it!" It was true. Matsumoto just loved playing with her taichou, especially if she got to have fun with him. It'd be just priceless if she got Hitsugaya to have fun as well.
Wiping the snow off his face, Hitsugaya closed his eyes, expecting another snowball to be thrown at him, but alas, not even one tiny bit of snow came to his face. He opened a teal eye, only to be covered by the incoming snowball. Obviously, Toushirou was waiting for Hitsugaya to open his eyes.
"Come on, Hyousetsu-oniichan! Have some fun! Smile!"
Hitsugaya sighed sadly at Toushirou's comment. It had been a long time since he truly smiled. And it had been an even longer time since he had fun. Memories of spitting watermelon seeds at Hinamori flashed in his mind as he looked at the snowy grounds.
"Please...Please save Aizen-taichou!"
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes as he remembered what Hinamori begged him to do. Speaking of Hinamori, Hitsugaya had not seen her ever since he returned to Seireitei. She wasn't at the 4th Division since she had already woken up. Hitsugaya decided to pay her a visit at her division when he had the time.
"Hyousetsu-oniichan!"
...And bring Toushirou along with him too.
"Hyousetsu-oniichan! What are you looking at? There's only snow on the ground!" Toushirou said.
Hitsugaya remained looking at the ground. "It's nothing, Toushirou. I was just...remembering something..."
"Oh..." his lookalike mumbled. "Ne, Hyousetsu-oniichan..."
"Hmm?"
"You look..." Toushirou frowned. "...sad..." Toushirou mumbled the last part softly, but the silence between all of them allowed Hitsugaya to hear what Toushirou had said. "You...wanna continue playing?"
Hitsugaya looked up and stared at him for a while before looking at the ground again. "...Maybe not."
"...Ok. Let's go back in then," suggested Toushirou.
Hitsugaya couldn't help but agree to it.
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It was a freezing cold night in Seireitei. Practically all the shinigami slept with three blankets but they still felt cold. Even Yamamoto had trouble sleeping. Only Hitsugaya was the one who could sleep peacefully. Toushirou snuggled up to Hitsugaya for warmth. Other than that, Toushirou felt a little chilly as well. He didn't seem the dislike the cold, despite that.
"Ne, Hyousetsu-oniichan..." Toushirou nudged, still wide awake.
"...Hn?" Hitsugaya mumbled out, feeling a little sleepy. He yawned a little, trying hard not to rub his eyes. "What is it, Toushirou?"
"Do you like snow?"
Hitsugaya arched an eyebrow. "Of course I do. It's my element. Why do you ask?"
Toushirou smiled a little and shook his head. "Nothing. I just want to know more about you." Seeing that Hitsugaya was a bit stunned, Toushirou resumed asking questions. "Then...do you like ice?" Hitsugaya nodded. "How about rain?" Hitsugaya nodded again, even though he realised that the questions were linked to the strange cold weather occurring in Soul Society. Toushirou pulled the blanket up to nose level, as if hiding his sad smile. "Then do you like me? As a friend?"
Hitsugaya didn't know how to reply. True, the boy's presence was enjoyable and fun. Heck, Hitsugaya felt his troubles fading away whenever Toushirou was with him, but now...after what Yamamoto had told him, he didn't know if he could even trust Toushirou just a little. If the child were told the truth about Soul Society suspecting him, he would be emotionally scarred for life. Hitsugaya didn't want that to happen. "...Of course. In fact," Hitsugaya paused to embrace Toushirou in a hug, totally unlike the usually cold and stoic captain of the 10th Division. Smiling, Hitsugaya continued, "You're like a younger brother to me."
Flushing, Toushirou whispered a soft 'arigatou' before falling asleep in the white-haired captain's arms. Unwilling to let go of him, Hitsugaya closed his teal eyes.
Yes...
He trusted Toushirou. No matter how many people would be against him in the future, Hitsugaya would trust Toushirou with all his life. Heck with the damned suspicions! Toushirou had nothing to do with Aizen and the weather. Hitsugaya believed that. Even if Toushirou did something bad in the past, Hitsugaya would oversee it. Toushirou was like his brother.
After all, shouldn't you love and trust your brother for eternity?
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A/N: No, I am not hinting Hitsugaya and lil' Toushirou are biological brothers. I'll make this clear: they're not biological brothers at all. Next chapter is boring. Real boring. Other than the snowball fight...
Hitsugaya: Not again!
Me: Yes again, Hitsu-chan. Now shut up and pay attention.
As much as I hate Hinamori, I'm giving her a lot of scenes in the next chapter. Oh yeah, I like her in the Bleach games. No, scratch that. I like seeing her get defeated. It's priceless, I tell you, it's priceless. When I get the Bleach Wii game and unlock her, I am so gonna play as Hitsu and kill her over and over again.
Hitsugaya: ...I won't ever do that to Hinamori.
Me: Oh yeeeeaaaah? (fishes out virtual and imaginary WiiMote) Then I'll make you!
Hitsugaya: o.O