"Can you believe that Ichigo kid?" Mashiro heard two shinigami talking about him one day. She ducked into a corner to hear what they were saying. "I know, I thought that all that stuff was just rumor, but I saw it. He was on par with Captain Yoruichi, can you believe it? he caught her right in mid- shunpo! It was incredible!" "Whoa, and how old is he? Like, five? six, maybe? There's gotta be more to his past than we know. Maybe if we talk to him-" " No, I heard from Lieutenant Aizen that he only talks to Captain Shinji, and even he can't get much out of the kid." "Really? that's not surprising, I guess...he seems so apathetic, i wonder what his past is and why he's the way he is..." Mashiro decided that that was enough eavesdropping. Was all that really true? Could he be everything everyone said? One thing was for sure, she had to meet this kid, so she headed towards Squad 5's barracks to find Shinji.
When she got there, evidently Hiyori had beat her to the pitch. "Why are you so apathetic? You're being awfully rude, you know?" He remained unresponsive, though his eyes filled a wariness. Smart. " Hey! Answer me, dumbass!" she yelled at him, as he turned to walk away, she took off a shoe and chucked it at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and with a flick of his hand, the shoe went flying back at Hiyori. She barely caught it and then stood awestruck as he turned to her and said, "It's rude to throw things at people you don't know", and then walked away. I knew Hiyori wouldn't stay in that shocked state all day, so I went after him while I had the chance. As I caught up to him I said, " Hey! it's Ichigo, right? I'm Mashiro, that girl back there with the hot temper was Hiyori." He stopped in front of me and looked in my eyes as he replied," Nice to meet you, Mashiro." "Hey, you haven't been all around Seretei yet, right? How about I show you around?" "Sure, sounds like fun."
He'd already been in all the squads barracks, so she took him through the maze that was Seretei and then through the rest of Soul Society. They had fun, laughing and playing with other kids, eating candy and just being themselves. It was close to midnight when they finished the tour and Mashiro said," We should get back, Shinji's probably worried." He nodded and she motioned for him to get on her back. He complied and then she flash stepped him into Seretei and to Squad 5's barracks, by which time, he had fallen into a peaceful doze.
She landed as gently as she could on the steps of the squad as Shinji came out and said "Oh, good, I thought he'd run away for a moment. Then Kensei told me that you-" "SHhhhhhhhh" she said, " he's asleep" She nodded towards the sleeping strawberry and Shinji lead her to his quarters. He opened the door to reveal a room she had never seen. It looked very Shinji like, plain yet somehow interesting. He pointed to a small bed a few feet away from his that had a night stand next to it and a medium size wardrobe a few feet away, both were painted pitch black and scarlet red. On the table was a single book, a lamp, a glass of water and a piece of candy. The bedspread was black with a red dragon on it, clearly the work of someone from squad 4. The pillow was red, so his hair blended in well. The wardrobe was simple black, same as the nightstand. The lamp was white and so was the book, she couldn't see the title, though. Shinji Unmade the bed enough for Mashiro to slip Ichigo in and then they both pulled the covers over him and silently watched him sleep for a moment before Mashiro whispered," I've gotta get going, Kensei might get worried", Shinji nodded and she left, lingering at the door for a moment. That is so cute, they could be siblings she thought, and then headed off into the night.