"Hinamori!" Came a sing-song voice and the Squad Five Lieutenant huffed. She was doing work at the moment and her Captain was asleep.
"Keep it down, Rangiku." Momo shushed the strawberry blonde. "The Captain is cranky when he gets woken up."
Rolling her eyes, Rangiku instead pulled the smaller girl out of the office and into the Squad Five courtyard.
"Shouldn't you be doing your work, Ran?" Momo questioned. "Captain Thane doesn't let you get away with slacking any more than Shiro did, and he also doesn't let you push it on him."
"Yeah, he's sneaky that way." Rangiku frowned. "But that's not important. There's something I wanted to…"
She trailed off, spotting something interesting in the sky. Curious, Momo followed her gaze. There she spotted a large white butterfly coming towards them in lazy sweeps, as if it wasn't in any hurry to get there.
"That's not a Hell Butterfly." Momo mused aloud, reaching a hand out for it.
"I've never seen a butterfly like that." Rangiku agreed, watching as the rather large butterfly alighted lazily onto the young girl's finger.
"All Captains and Lieutenants are asked to head to the house of Kukaku Shiba by noon for the arrival of the Royal Guard." The butterfly relayed aloud, the recorded voice being a soft female tone. Once relayed, it took off once more and headed skyward, its next location unknown.
"The Royal Guard." Rangiku frowned again. "What do they want with us now?"
"Do you think it's about Toshiro?" Momo's expression quickly became panicky as she turned to her fellow Lieutenant, hand grasping the pendant around her neck. "Did something happen to him?!"
"I'm sure he's fine." Rangiku assured, though she also looked concerned. "Come on, the others are probably heading over. We should head over."
"Captain Hirako is still asleep…"
"Oh…well, you go wake him up. I'll see to my Captain and then we'll all meet up there."
"Got it."
The two parted ways, Matsumoto using Flash Step since she had much farther to go. She wondered if Kadin had already gotten the message or if he was too busy to even notice. Probably the former; that man was very sharp sighted even for a Soul Reaper.
She happened to catch him as he was walking out of the barracks, slipping on his haori. Unlike most Captains he preferred to not wear it while in his own division grounds, he was easily recognizable and it was always slung over his shoulder in case he had to head out in a hurry like today.
"Guess you got it before I did, considering where you were." He nodded to her. "Come on, let's see what the Royal Guard want."
"Right."
The duo quickly left.
In the Squad One barracks, Yamamoto raised a gray eyebrow.
"Again?" He mused aloud. "Don't tell me there's more royalty within our ranks that I don't know about. I'm tired of losing Captains."
The aging man looked down at the letter he had just finished.
"I suppose I'll give this to Lieutenant Kuchiki while we're there to give to her." He sighed and neatly folded up the letter, slipping into his uniform for safe keeping.
That done, he joined his Lieutenant outside his office and together they headed over to the Rukongai area the Shiba house currently resided in to see what the guardians could possibly want.
The first to arrive there were Squads Two, Ten and Seven with minimal time between them and they were quick to notice the Tenchuren already fallen into the ground, empty of anyone. Did that mean the Royal Guards were inside the Shiba home?
"I wonder what they want." Komamura said aloud what they were all thinking, amber eyes looking for a sign of people, brown fur tousling in the wind.
"It's not our place to know, we were simply asked to be here." Soi Fon replied, arms crossed. "They'll approach us when they're ready."
Kadin looked back at Rangiku to see her fidgeting nervously. He could guess what she wanted to know so badly and let her be, no point trying to make her feel bad to make her stop or get her hopes anymore. Squads Four, Five, Eight and Thirteen came next, Momo heading over to Rangiku where the two girls waited nervously, Rukia joining them to try and calm them down.
It didn't take long for the rest of the squads to make it, Squad One arriving last and standing ahead of the others.
A familiar figure stepped out of the Shiba house with said woman by her side, a smirk on her face. Was this some sort of joke? They really hoped not. If Yamamoto remembered right, the timid one was Ruala Nakryin, the one who had helped Hitsugaya to realize who he was before taking him away.
"What need do you have to summon us here?" Yamamoto spoke in a calm and respectful tone despite his annoyance. "Is there another prince among us?"
A few of them snickered but Ruala shook her head.
"Actually, she brought the first one back." A different voice responded and a second figure came out of the house.
Several eyes widened and mouths dropped as they recognized the head of white hair and bright teal eyes. Toshiro did seem a little taller now, but there was no mistaking him. No one had such gravity defying snowy spikes like he did.
"It's good to see everyone again." He smiled softly.
"It's only been a few weeks." Yamamoto replied, bowing his head. Though he might have been far older, the boy was a prince, marking him as higher status. Several others followed suit and Toshiro frowned.
"Well, I can only stay for a little bit."
"Fine by me!" A familiar voice shouted happily and he was suddenly pulled into a very tight hug. At least he was tall enough not to be suffocated by her breasts, but her grip on him was tight enough to take his air away. "I'm so glad you came back, Captain!" She let go of him in surprise and he took that chance to get his breath back. "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't call you that anymore. Force of habit."
"That's fine." He cleared his throat. "Nice to see you too, Matsumoto."
"I suppose you'll be staying in your former squad barracks for now?" Yamamoto chuckled in amusement at the reunion.
"Not the night, no, but it wouldn't hurt to see how my former squad is doing." Toshiro replied. He spotted his sister among the gathered Soul Reapers and gifted her a small smile, glad to see she was fine. She approached him.
"You've gotten taller, Shiro." She said to him and his brow twitched.
"Of course I did." He grumbled. "Honestly, Momo, when will you stop calling me Shiro?"
"Never." She smiled and giggled, leaving him to sigh. After being called Ice Prince so many times he actually welcomed the nickname, but he wouldn't tell her that; she seemed to know, anyway.
Seeing as his visit wasn't official business, the others relaxed and greeted the young prince with more familiarity, and he actually seemed to prefer that for once. Well, Yamamoto mused, he didn't work as hard for the position or prince as he did Captain, which must be one reason. Toshiro was a person who only took what he'd earned through hard work, such as his rank. His position as prince was forced on him, therefore something he thought he hadn't earned.
A few of the others left as they weren't interested, such as Squad Twelve since Mayuri never liked the boy, so there were fewer people crowded around.
"What made you decide to come back so early?" Rukia questioned.
"I wanted to make sure Matsumoto hadn't burned the office down and that Momo was taking care of herself."
"You worry too much, Shiro." Momo huffed. "I'm fine, really, you need to worry about yourself and being a prince and all that."
He grimaced.
"I'm really not that fond of it." He grumbled.
"Hey, kid." A gruff voice snapped and Toshiro turned, scowling as he was called the one thing he still despised being called no matter the situation. He was met with the frowning face of Kenpachi. "Where'd all your Spiritual Pressure go? Usually it gets colder when you show up."
The others all blinked in surprise, realizing what Kenpachi had said. They could hardly sense the boy's Spirit Energy, it was heavily suppressed.
"The first thing I did upon my arrival in the Soul King's Realm was take a set of trials to raise my Spirit Energy." Toshiro replied, his familiar icy façade returned. "It's increased rather largely, so as a result I had to suppress it."
"Increased, you say?" Kenpachi now grinned wickedly, his pink haired attachment laughing. "By how much, do you think?"
"Ten times." The others gasped as he said this and Yamamoto's eyes opened wider in surprise.
"Perfect." Zaraki's hand went to the hilt of his blade.
A blade was pointed at him from Ruala's sleeves, not a zanpaktou to be sure but obviously deadly, not to mention centimeters from his neck. He paused, scowling at the interruption.
"I'd rather not fight here." Toshiro spoke. "Nakryin was adamant about that. She'll prevent anyone from fighting me."
"Hmph, how disappointing." Robbed of his entertainment, the large man left.
"That was close." Rangiku heaved a sigh. "Anyway, Capt-er…Prince Hitsugaya…"
"Just Hitsugaya is fine."
"Really?" He nodded and she beamed. "Right then, you haven't met the new Captain." She turned him around to face Kadin, who tensed up at being put in the spotlight. He was used to being unnoticed. "Captain Kadin Thane!"
"Uh…hi." Kadin lifted a hand in a slight wave. So this was his predecessor, the child prodigy. He'd never had a chance to get to know the boy well while in the Tenth Squad, mostly just his Lieutenant.
"I remember you." Toshiro replied, pushing Rangiku's hands off his shoulders. "Didn't you transfer to Squad Five?"
"Well, he mastered Bankai and was the best candidate, so he transferred back." Momo answered.
"At least that means you know everyone." The young prince nodded in approval. "How is everyone?"
"Still getting used to having a change in Captains." Kadin responded. "They're glad it's someone they know, though, even if I wasn't a very social person to begin with."
The white haired prince nodded in understanding before noticing something. Ruala seemed to be staring at Kadin, mouth partly open in surprise. Did she know him? She turned away quickly and returned to her silent stance off to the side and he shook it aside for now. Her distraction had reminded him of something, the reason he'd decided to visit today of all days.
"Head Captain, would it be possible for the Senkaimon to be opened for a little bit?" He turned to the aging Reaper.
"What would a prince want in the Human World?" Yamamoto replied gruffly.
"I never did say my goodbyes to the Kurosakis."
"I see…In that case, perhaps you could do me a favor." Yamamoto reached into his robes, Toshiro quirking an eyebrow, and pulled out the folded note. "I'd planned on Lieutenant Kuchiki heading to the World of the Living and giving this to Karin Kurosaki. Perhaps you could do so?"
"Karin?" Toshiro took the note, noticing there was something inside it that made it heavier.
"Yes, something slightly overdue. Today seemed like a good day to give it to her."
"It is her birthday, after all." Rangiku beamed, poking her former Captain's shoulder and causing him to scowl at her. How she missed this. "Oh, maybe that's why you came today!"
"A coincidence, that's all." Toshiro denied.
"Mhmm, of course it is." Rangiku had spotted the bond between them as fast as Yoruichi could Flash Step; it was obvious from the start. Of course, being the ice prince he was, in more ways than one now, he refused to believe it.
"I'll wait a bit before heading over." Toshiro ignored her and returned to his conversation with the Head Captain, putting the note in his robes. "There are still things I need to do."
"No rush, of course." The elderly Reaper waved him off and turned away to return to his barracks. Well, that had worked out fine. Karin was going to have a splendid birthday indeed.
"Shiro, let's go visit Granny!" Momo spoke up, eyes wide and pleading. "She misses you."
"I'd planned on it." A tiny smile was seen and Hinamori beamed.
"Several of us will be heading to the Kurosakis to see Karin a little later this evening." Rukia reported before they left. "Will you join us?"
"Count on it." Toshiro nodded.
The petite Kuchiki bowed with a smile and then the young prince was gone with Rangiku and Momo, Ruala following from a distance just to make sure.
"We better tell Ichigo." Renji came up beside her to say.
"No, let's leave it a secret." Rukia grinned mischievously. "I want to see the looks on their faces when he walks through the door."
Renji smirked; he was with her all the way.
So everyone in the Soul Society gets to see their old friend ^^ Now off to the World of the Living! I bet some of you can guess what Yamamoto has planned for Karin in that note, hehe. Then again, maybe not. Anyway, I meant to post this earlier but I was at a convention, San Japan, for most of the day dressed as a female Riku ^^ Loads of fun. But here's today's chapter, still making sure to do that! Enjoy!