Chapter 16
Toshiro Hitsugaya
"And you think that this is a good idea?" I asked as we neared our destination.
"Chill out, we're only going to the park." Ichigo said as he pushed his hands into his pockets and walked ahead of us.
"It'll be good for them to be around kids their age." Karin said to him. I nodded, I knew she was right. Two year olds aren't of real abundance in the soul society so we decided it would be good if we went to the world of the living so that the twins could play with children their own age instead of being in the house all the time.
"I know,but-" before I could finish my sentence Toshi let out a loud shriek. I looked up to see a large jungle gym in the middle of a giant sand box. She ripped her hand away from mine and jetted in the direction of the jungle gym.
"A little ball of energy," I said as I walked over to a bench and sat down. Karin walked over and sat next to me with Ichigo following closely behind her.
I sat there watching Toshi running around the jungle gym like she had never been outside before. All of the other kids gravitated towards her. Toshi and another little girl ran hand and hand up the stairs down the slide and back around again.
"You okay Toshiro?" Karin asked.
"Yeah I'm alright." I said to her. I turned my attention to Katsu who was sitting cross legged in the sand. Every couple of seconds he would look up at Toshi then back down sand in front of him.
"What's with that look?" Karin asked.
"Nothing, just thinking." I said as I continued to watch Katsu playing in the sand by himself. The other kids would look at him and point and laugh. That was all I could take, I stood from the bench and walked towards the jungle gym.
"Where are you going Toshiro?" Karin asked.
"I think it's time that I play with my son." I said to her. I walked over to Katsu and stood in front of him. He looked up at me and gave me the same blank look he always didn't. I crouched down and got at eye level with him. I held my hand out to him and just like he always did he leaned away from me and frowned.
"Come on, I promise I won't bite." I said to him in a soft voice.
"No," he said softly as he continued to lean away from me.
"You'll have fun, I promise." I said to him. He frowned again before standing from his place on the ground. He looked up at me with wide curious eyes, wondering what I was trying to do.
Since my body was still not equal to that of an average sized male getting on a jungle gym made for small children wasn't that hard. I went up the first flight of metal steps and then held my hand out to him. He grabbed my hand and climbed the steps slowly. From the top of the steps we went over the short bridge to the slide.
"Go ahead." I said to him.
"No," he said softly.
"But it's fun." I said to him.
"No," he repeated. I moved around him and sat down on the slide. I turned back and held my hand out to him.
"Come on, I'll go with you." I said to him. He inched over to me in small steps. Once he was close enough I grabbed him and placed him in my lap. I scooted forward until I slid down the slide and stood up on the end. I placed him down on the ground and he turned around and looked at me.
"That wasn't bad now was it?" I asked. Instead of answering my he grabbed my hand and pulled my over to another playground toy. He pointed at it with one hand and looked up at me with the same curious look he had before.
"You climb it." I said as I eyed the small rock wall that led up to the end of the metal bridge that was opposite the slide. It served as an alternative to using the stairs.
"Show me," he said in a plain voice.
"Uh, okay." I said to him. I walked over to the jungle gym and climbed to the top. When I got to the top I turned around and looked at him.
"It's just that easy." I said to him. He inched over to the bottom of the rock wall but continued to look up at me with wide eyes.
"I can't," he said.
"Sure you can, just try." I said to him.
"What if I fall?" he asked. I put my legs out and hoped down from the top of the jungle gym.
"Come on, if you fall I'll catch you." I said to him. He moved cautiously over to the plastic rock wall.
"Put one foot on the blue rock and reach up to the ones above your head." I said to him. He took my instruction and put his left foot on the little blue rock protruding from the bottom of the wall. He reached up and grabbed a rock with each hand.
"Now pull yourself up with your hands and put your right foot higher up on the wall that your left." I instructed.
"I'm gonna fall," he said to me.
"You're not, I'm right here." I said to him. He moved slowly up the wall until he reached the top. He looked back at me again with a frightened look. The distance wasn't that far for me, I could stand on the ground and touch the top of the jungle gym but for him this short distance was probably like scaling the side of a sky scraper for him.
"I wanna get down," he whined.
"But you're so close to the top." I said to him. He looked away from me and back at the jungle gym. He shook his head then looked back at me.
"I wanna get down." he said again. He grabbed him from the rock wall and placed him back down on the ground where he had been before.
"Katsu come play!" Toshi said in a loud voice as she bounded over and grabbed him by the hand. He looked at her then back at me.
"Go ahead and play." I said. I watched as they both ran in the direction of a group of kids waiting for the Toshi to return. I smiled and walked back over to the bench and sat down.
"That was so cute." Karin said with a smile.
"I agree, it was darling." Ichigo said in a mocking way.
"You must be hell bent on getting on my nerves when you're around me?" I asked.
"It's really funny to watch." He replied. Karin frowned then elbowed him in the side.
"Stop acting like a child." She said sternly. He rolled his eyes then looked away from the both of us. I pulled my communicator out of my pocket and checked all of the messages I had for Rangiku regarding the paperwork I left for her to do while I was gone.
"Daddy!" called a voice in front of us all. The small voice was not one that I really recognized so I paid attention. I wasn't until I felt a tap on my knee that I looked away from my communicator and up at the person in front of me. Katsu was standing there with his hands behind his back looking at me as if I was about to yell about him for touching me.
"I wanna try again," he said in a soft voice, he glanced over his shoulder at the jungle gym then turned his attention back to me. "Will you help me?" he asked before pressing his lips into a tight line like he was scared of me.
"Of course." I said to him as I stood from the bench. I followed behind me as we walked back over to the plastic rock wall.
Again he put his foot on the blue rock near the bottom and placed his hands on the two rocks he used the previous time. He pulled himself up the took his time to make sure his foot was on another rock before he reached a hand up to grab a different rock above him.
"I did it!" he said happily when he finally reached the top. He turned around and for the first time in his entire life he smiled at me. I was so happy that I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. He finally smiled at me.
"Thank you daddy," he said calmly as he turned and walked in the direction of the slide.
I turned around and went back to my place on the bench.
"What did he say to you?" Karin asked as soon as I reached the bench.
"He said thank you after he reached the top." I said to her.
"And…" she pressed.
"He called me daddy." I said to her, she smiled wider.
"And it only took him two years." She said with a smile.
"I didn't even know he knew how to say the word." I said to her.
"I didn't think he would actually let you touch him, let alone come over and ask you to play with him." Karin said.
"I didn't think he would either," I said to her.
"Maybe he doesn't hate you as much as you thought," she said.
"Maybe he doesn't, but I still don't think that he likes me that much." He said. I leaned forward on the bench and looked to the other side of her.
"Where'd Ichigo go?" I asked. She raised an arm and pointed ahead of us. I looked in the direction she was pointing to see Ichigo playing with the large group of kids that Toshi had befriended in the short time that we had been at the park.
"He's good with kids." I said aloud.
"It's because he's still a child inside." Karin said with a smile. I smiled at her.
"I'm glad I'm not the only person who realizes that he's very immature for his age." I said.