Toshiro looked at the picture that now hung in the darkest corner in his room. Even when its suppose to be happy, it was bringing to a horrible memory back to life. He tried to block the horrifying details of Kurohime's death. All the blood that had dripped from her wounds ran down his cold hands and onto his haori.

When he looked closer at the picture, the picture of him was blushing a pale pink color just like he was right now. The little color on his cheeks blossomed when he thought about how Kurohime would react to this. But he would never again.

*93 years later*

A scream echoed out into the night and two blazing reiatsu flared like a beacon for all to see. I heard a girl yell and a Senkeimon clack. Soul Reapers, I thought, how vulgar.

I later found out from Yoruichi that two member from the Soul Society had abducted a girl from one of the four great noble clans. I dodged a hit from Tessai and scooted out of his range. "What the hell, Tessai? Why would you hit me? He snorted and pushed up his glasses. "You should pay attention to the boss, you know. You need to help him no matter what you say."

The look on his face was so terrifying that I shut up. Kisuke walked in and gave us a little wave. He nodded to Yoruichi and she immediately turned to a cat. She held up a claw towards my face and I did the same. Tessai gathered my clothes and shoved them into a hole in the wall. I shrieked my protest at the treatment of my expensive outfit, but Tessai picked me up and put me outside.

I bumped into a man outside. He had orange hair and a large zanpaktou. Yoruichi nudged me towards the opposite direction and I reluctantly followed. We stopped near a river somewhere and she turned around. "In a couple of days, we will be going to the Soul Society, Hime-chan. Kisuke is sending us to retrieve the girl who was kidnapped. She has something that is critical to us."

I made a face and tried to talk in the human language, but my cat instinct took over and I meowed in acceptance.

The capture of Rukia Kuchiki had caused a huge riots in the Soul Society, especially in Squad 13 and 6. Toshiro wasn't surprised by this and he didn't want to take part in the squabbles either. With Matsumoto gone, he was stuck in his office until dawn doing nothing but paper work. When he reached for his cup of tea, the rim cracked and a little piece of the cup fell of and clattered on the table.

It was eight days already and I was already dreading the night I would be entering a Senkeimon again. Kisuke had gathered quite a group to accompany us. I swiped at the orange haired girl who tried to pick me up, but she avoided it and petted me. Kisuke was very persistent that I stay in my cat form otherwise I would have pummeled this girl to pieces.

The Seinkeimon opened and we quickly ran through it with only one obstacle. The cleaners had chased us and almost caught the man in white. The girl had released her powers and blocked it, though Yoruichi had made her learn her lesson later.

Then the stupid soul reaper had the courage to face Gatekeeper of the West. I didn't care if the boy defeated him, he alerted the whole soul society that we were here. The gate was opened by the gatekeeper and standinig in front of him was the fox-faced Gin Ichimaru. The soul reaper charged him and during the distraction, I snuck in and ran away before any of the guardsmen could see me.

I got lost in the Soul Society because most of what I remembered was either modified or demolished. It took quite a while to find Squad 2 barracks and I was too afraid to enter it.

"So, Hime-san. You're in the Soul Society even though you swore to yourself to never enter it again. What are you going to do?"

I ignored this because I knew Shirobara couldn't do a thing since I left her in the world of the living. Soon, I got impatient and reverted back to my human form. No one saw me however, I shunpoed faster than the eye could see and even if they saw me, they would not say a word because if they did, then I'll find them. I soon found Squad 10 (very easy because I was in the air) and changed back into a cat.

Nothing much has changed, except for a couple of gardens and soul reapers I've never seen before. When I approached the office, I could hear loud, exasperated shouts and someone running out of the office. I guessed that Toshiro was still large and in charge.

The funny thing was that I could peer through the window if I sat on the nearby cherry tree, but the annoying thing was that once in a while he would glance at the tree, causing me to feign sleep. I jumped down from the tree during one of these innocent glances and part of me wanted to take him by surprise by changing back, but I restrained myself and wandered around the grass until he came out of his office.

It was a many hours before night fell and Toshiro felt like he could collapse on his desk and not give a care to whoever walked on their captain sleeping. But he preferred to sleep on a futon with a pillow and covers. After he locked up the office, he found a cat staring up at him with amused eyes, if that was possible. He tried to ignore it, but if followed him until he picked it up and raised it to his eye level.

The cat struggled to get out of his grasp then gave up. It looked back at him with strikingly familiar eyes. A fiery red-purple color with a knowledgeable look on a cat might have been exaggerated a bit, but not in Toshiro's case. He stroked the cat's gray fur absentmindedly and thought why was it so familiar to him.

Finally, the cat struggled out of his grasp and landed on the ground below. It gave him a hiss and what looked like a smirk, then ran away. When Toshiro got out of the shower that evening, he went to the corner where the painting had hung for decades and had uneasy thoughts about what he just saw.

Before he fell asleep, he heard a hauntingly familiar voice sing out loud into the moon lit night.

It took a long time for me to fall asleep on that hard tree branch and even harder to stay asleep. Shirobara was pestering me and in the end she got tired and fell asleep. Oh how, I wished Yoruichi-sama would hurry up.

The next morning, I got up and strolled to other squad barracks to see what has changed. I wished I had known what was in Squad 12 otherwise I would have stayed away from them. When I was heading back to Squad 2, a huge reiatsu burst from the sekiseki barrier and exploded. I quickly distinguished which one was Yoruichi and hurried to join her.

We ended up near Sokyoku and shifted back. The clothing in the cave was uncomfortable and loose in contrast to my own clothing back home. I sighed and sat on the cliff's edge, gazing at the sunrise until Yoruichi plopped down next to me.

"Do you still miss them, Hime-chan? Do you still miss Toshiro and Soi Fon?" I gave her a sickly sweet smile and said no even when I knew in my heart that I still did.

After Yoruichi left, I shed my clothes and shifted back. I could already sense the fight going between the Soul Reaper boy and another man with a high level of reiatsu. I later learned that the boy's name is Ichigo Kurosaki and was encouraged to address him as such, but that is later on. I was on a roof during the climax of the battle between Ichigo and the soul reaper when a large flower of a firework nearly blasted me into the sky. I was lucky that only my tail fur was singed.

I stayed out of every battle and came back after it was finished to heal the injured. Following the girl and the quincy was a captain. I didn't see his face but judging from his reiatsu, he was going to be a formidable opponent. The day past with very amusing outcomes, the whole Seireitei was reduced to babble of confused captains and soul reapers. I even manipulated a couple of people to false locations and set illusions on them.

That night, when I was asleep on a roof, someone had caused an explosion at the base of the building and destroyed the section I was sleeping on. I looked down and saw a ghastly man and a woman trailing behind him. It was the captain who was following the quincy and the girl. The quincy asked the drunk to carry the girl away from there and I must say it was a very good idea because the captain turned out to be a sadistic monster. The quincy was furious when the captain tossed him a piece of paper, this caused him to stand up even though he was slashed across the back with Ashisogi Jizo.

He ripped of pieces of clothing and tied them to his limp arms and the reiatsu surrounding him was overwhelming. That's it, I was going to step in and end the fight before it got out of hand. Leaping off the roof and landing on the ground next to the injured woman, I turned back to a human and quickly shunpoed to the captain's side.

My mouth curled into a vicious sneer even though I meant to frown. "Hello, Taicho of the Gotei 13. I don't know if you know this, but you are hurting a comrade of mine and I don't like that." I flew in the air and raised my left leg, intending to smash it down into the ground, crushing him into dust.

The woman on the side cried out as my leg met its target. Even though he couldn't see me still, he was trying at a desperate rate to catch up to me. "You insolent, little brat. Show your face to me or when I experiment on you, I'll make sure you'll die before sunrise." A punched hit his face and another in his stomach. Suddenly, the quincy stood up when I kicked the captain in his direction. He gave a small smile to me and nodded. Another kick was aimed at his head and then I flew away.

In my cat form, I stood on the roof, watching the outcome of this battle. I had to jump as soon as the captain released his bankai. The head of a gruesome baby reared its head and spray a purple mist into the air. Poison, I thought. I've encountered many poisons before, but not like this, This was lethal and as soon I breathe it in ,I'll die.

I did what any respectable Omeitskido what do. Run away if the foe was stronger than you.

It was night time and Toshiro could feel various reiatsu clash. Mayuri Kurotsuchi and a ryoka. Both reiatsus were fading fast, having to be activated in a final blow. He was sitting down on the hard floor of the walkway and watching the moon, sipping his tea. It was absolutely perfect tonight with the exception of the obvious battle going on close to his squad.

The cold night air stung his face and the blossom petals swirled around the sky. It was then did Toshiro heard a lonely melody join in.

"I've tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter. I had to fall to lose it all . . . In the end it, doesn't even matter . . . I've put my trust in you, wished that was as far as I can go . . .

Toshiro was captivated by the voice and set down his tea to wander around his garden to find it. In the furthest corner in the garden, he saw a girl's silhouette flicker then disappear. Disappointed, he went back for his tea and found the little gray cat sitting next to the cup, gazing at the moon.

It looked at him and stood up, as beckoning him to sit down. He noticed that its left leg and right paw was caked with blood. It mewed when it noticed this and bounded away from him to the tree in the center of the garden. It's eyes flashed blood red in the moon and it made him very uneasy. Toshiro walked back to his room, hearing a cold, feminine laugh behind him.

It was late into the night when I finished my conversation with Shirobara. Tonight she was overly energetic and annoying, due to my little encounter as a cat with Toshiro. She thought I should turn into a human in front of him. The cold wind pelted me in waves and my fur was the only thing that kept me from freezing.

My eyes found its way to the door to Toshiro's room and I decided to have a peek to see if that has changed too. Changing back to human form was such a nuisance because I knew I have to change back to a cat after. I opened the door to find a sleeping Toshiro on the floor.

He didn't look like he was going to wake up, so I took this chance to explore his room once more. It was a bit messier but cleaner than the average room. In a corner, I found a painting hanging there. I only saw half of it, but it was enough to bring back memories. I remembered I had painted this for Toshiro as a present. But I never got the chance to finish it. Suddenly, Toshiro stirred and I felt myself stiffen.

When I saw he just turned on his side, I relaxed and continued with my tour of his room. His desk was littered with paper and so was the floor. When I was done, I turned to leave and almost fell onto Hitsuguya-taicho's sleeping form. In n the moonlight, he was gorgeous. His snowy hair was spread across the pillow like fresh snow and I blushed at the sight of his chest.

I stepped closer to him and leaned closer to his face. He looked so vulnerable in his sleep. I leaned in too close and a lock of my hair brushed against his face. I quickly got up and turned around to run away when I felt his hand grab my ankle. That exact moment I shifted back into a cat and sat down. The sheets behind me rustled and I heard him get up.

"How did you get in here?" His hands tried to pick me up, but I avoided him and walked over to my painting. Toshiro followed me to it and when I looked up at the painting, his eyes widened. "You like the painting, don't you?"

I meowed my response and he took it to be a yes. He sighed and said "This was made by a former friend. She was an artist and good one too. What's weird is that she always had an affinity for cats. Maybe that's what drew you here."

He stared at me for a while and asked "Can you understand me?" I meowed again, nodding my head at the same time. "You remind me of her, your eyes and coat at exactly the same color as her hair and eyes. She always exotic in both personality and appearance, and like you she was delicate." I never knew that thought of me this way and yes I was a cat that had the size of a kitten.

Toshiro murmured something that sounded like why am I talking to a cat and ran his hand through his hair. Then he scooped me up and opened the door to put me down outside. When the door closed I shifted back and whispered "Goodnight, Hitsuguya-taicho." When he opened the door once more, I was already gone.


Took me a while to come up with ideas. Hope you enjoy the Soul Society arc. Oh yeah the song excerpt in the story was In the End by Linkin Park. Reviews!