Toshiro sat on a high stool while an elderly woman puttered around her shop searching for he right herbs to mix. They had come to a village after several days of walking and still the gash in Toshiro's neck hadn't gotten much better. It was itchy and he couldn't seem to stop scratching it.

"Here you go dear." She returned to him with a cloth dampened in a brownish liquid. She tilted his head back and dabbed the ointment on his wound. It felt cool and relieving.

"Thank you." he sighed. She rebandaged his neck and bottled some ointment for him to take with him. He paid her and left.

He and Kenpachi had gotten a fair bit of cash out of the bodies they'd left behind. They seldom had money for anything but now they spent some time in the village to spend a little of their hard earned cash. It was a very busy place. It seemed the farther west they went the more people there were. He looked around but could not see his friend. Frustrated, he moved to ally and shut his eyes.

There.

In all the years they'd been together, he'd always had the uncanny ability of sensing out his friend. After what had happened recently, however, he couldn't help but wonder if with was more than intuition. He marched through the streets with purpose, following after that familiar presence. Then it changed. He felt a sort of spike in energy coming from Kenpachi. His pace quickened.

Kenpachi downed another glass of sake at the bar. He slammed down another coin and was quickly served. He surveyed the occupants, looking to see if there were any good fights to be found. He might as well entertain himself while the kid got patched up.

"Hey, what are soul reapers doing out here?" Kenpachi looked up as the barman yelled across the room. The whole tavern fell silent. Two men in black kimono's and carrying katana's walked in.

"Soul reaper? What's that?" Kenpachi asked.

"Are you serious?" a nearby patron responded to him. "They rule the Soul Society. They live in the sereiti in the West."

"Hmmm, never heard of them."

"You must be from far away then."

"Mmm."

The men in black kimonos plowed their way through the crowd. Kenpachi sat casually in his seat while they made their way directly to him. All he thought was, these guys might be good to fight.

"Captain Zaraki!" They cried when they finally stood before him. He didn't know how to react.

"Who?"

Their faces fell.

"Its us, from squad eleven, Ikkaku sent us to find you. And Yachiru's been looking for you forever."

"Listen boys, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Please, sir, you have to come with us. I'm sure they'll be able to help you remember when you get back to the sereitei."

"I'm not going any where with you."

He stood menacingly. The two braced themselves.

"We can't leave you here. Please just come with us."

"No." He could feel that swelling of energy inside him again. The people around him fell back.

He didn't understand. He didn't understand any of it, and it bothered him– much more than it should have.

"Leave now." He commanded.

"Sorry, sir."

"Oh you will be."

The tavern exploded in energy. Kido spells flew here and there, fists, swords– chaos enveloped the whole area. More soul reapers were drawn by the release of power. For once, Kenpachi was out numbered, faced by this strange group with incredible power.

The soul reapers formed a line. They had their hands raised to form one, united restraining kido. Kenpachi didn't know what they were about to do, but he was sure it wasn't good.

"Need some help?" He felt the gentle weight of Toshiro landing on his shoulder as he sometime did when he got tired of shouting up at Kenpachi to talk to him. This time there were no words, though, he just stood on the giant's shoulders, and raised his hands. The blue light formed and it blasted forth.

The soul reapers dodged.

"Oh yeah." Kenpachi said looking up at his small comrade, "forgot to mention, they can do that too, and they can do it better."

Toshiro balked. He was already drained from that much expenditure of energy.

"Then what do we do?" He asked crouching lower to Kenpachi's ear.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" someone yelled. Toshiro felt his heart flip. It was not his name, but when they said it, he turned to face them instinctively. Kenpachi looked up at him startled.

"You know that name?"

"I don't know...."

"You are the captain of squad ten." one of them explained. "Please come with us. We can help you remember."

"Remember? We haven't forgotten anything." he said, suddenly angry.

"Sir, please..."

"Let's get out of here Kenpachi."

"Agreed." They both leapt into the middle of the soul reapers without warning, causing as much chaos as possible before darting away at top speed.

"I hate to run from a fight. " Kenpachi said when they'd put some distance between themselves and the soul reapers.

"Me too." Toshiro panted beside him. They came to a halt well outside the village.

"Who were they?"

"Soul reapers."

"What's that?"

"I don't know."

The two sat down near a stream and drank some water. Kenpachi lay down their pack. Both he and Toshiro eyed it for several seconds before they each reached for it. Kenpachi tore it open and pulled out the white hioris.

"Those black kimonos we had on when we woke up here, they looked like the soul reapers'."

"I don't really remember." Toshiro said.

"You were young."

"Was not!"

"You were."

"Shut up." The big man shrugged and tossed Toshiro the smaller white bundle. He unfurled it and traced the numbers.

"How did they know about these?" He asked but Kenpachi was lost in thought. They were both wondering the same thing. Finally, Toshiro said it out loud.

"Whaterver these soul reapers are, they seem to have power, like us. I could feel their presence like I can you."

"You and your feelings." the other scoffed.

"Hey, they've never been wrong. Plus, I think it has something to do with that blue energy thing I did."

"Hmmm."

"What do you think?"

"I think these soul reaper people are crazy and you're letting them get to you. We died, we came to the soul society, end of story."

"I know, but it was kind of weird how they knew the numbers that were on the clothes we were wearing when we came here."

"Just a coincidence."

Toshiro fell silent. He rolled the hiori back up and put it under his head.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep."

"It's the middle of the day."

"Mmm, I'm tired."

"Geeze, that kido stuff takes a lot out of you."

"Kido?"

"Yeah, that's what they called it."

"Oh." he was curious to know more but tiredness was overtaking him. He fell asleep listening to the lulling brook.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya!" The ice dragon roared, clear in his mind. "Have you forgotten me? I have been waiting for you all this time."

"Who are you?"

"I am Hyorinmaru. Find me!"

The world of ice shattered and Toshiro woke with a start. It was night. Frost crunched beneath his hands as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Ken!" He shouted. "Kenpachi!" there was nothing. The man was gone, he was alone.

He felt out for his presence, there, not far, just a half a mile. He stumbled in the dark. His mind was racing. Hitsugaya. Was that really his name or had he just been influenced by the day's events? It disturbed him.

"Kenpachi!" He nearly ran into the mammoth of a man. He was standing stark still. "Ken, what is it?"

He looked past his friend who didn't answer and saw a small figure. She was also dressed like the soul reapers, but her hair was bright pink, even in the moonlight. Her face was anguished.

"How can you not remember me, Kenny? After all these years I searched for you! You know my name. You named me! Yachiru! Yachiru! Yachiru!" She screamed hysterically, never paying attention to Toshiro. The boy looked back to his friend and saw his body was held tight by some invisible force.

"What did you do to him?" He cried.

The girl stopped screaming and looked at him. Her hands shifted and she began an incantation but he dodged.

"Why won't you soul reapers leave us alone?" he yelled, running toward her. She disappeared before his eyes. "Where...?" a stunning blow hit him from behind. He fell gasping for air. She marched toward him. Enraged he leapt back up and charged again. Again she knocked him down.

He swore in frustration and pushed himself to his feet. She disappeared before he could even make his move but this time he was ready. He countered her blow and struck back. She stumbled back a few paces, her eyes narrowed. She flash stepped again but this time, without thinking, Toshiro pushed off from the ground and suddenly he was colliding with her at colossal force. Neither could doge and they met mid air, both crashing to the ground in pain. She landed stunned and the kido barrier on Kenpachi dropped. Toshiro felt a painful crack in his ribs and struggled to get up.

"What happened?" he moaned.

"You moved like she did."

"I did?" Kenpachi just nodded, hauling the boy to his feet by the back of his collar. He staggered.

"Beat up by a girl huh?" He said, lifting him to his shoulder. But the amusement in his voice faded as he stared at her. He felt compelled to check that she was okay and very carefully, put a hand against her throat. Her pulse was even, her breath strong. Toshiro watched but said nothing. Her eyes peeled open a bit and she whispered,

"Kenny" then they shut again and she passed out. Kenpachi stood and began to run, long and hard, far away from the girl who caused his heart to pain inside his chest.