"Chi~bi Taicho!"

The captain of the tenth division huffed and groggily raised his head from his desk. Right…he was so tired that he was fully prepared to actually sleep right then and there, the ever growing pile of paperwork serving as a potential pillow. His head was still pounding from the humongous headache he had provided himself. Just great!

Blinking the grogginess away, he fixed a cold glare at the intruder. Ichimaru Gin's grin widened at the sight and he gave a slight chuckle, leaning casually on the door frame.

"Seireitei to Shiro-chan~"

"What are you doing here, Ichimaru?" asked Toshiro, completely ignoring the use of that wretched nickname again. It was way too late and he had no excess energy left to deal with the silverette's bull. "Go away…"

"Nah." The older captain ignored him and slithered into the room, coming to a graceful perch on his desk. He spared a glance at the mess of paperwork and leveled him with a look. "Ya know, ya work more than the Kuchiki brat."

Toushiro felt his eyebrow twitch. What the...Is he scolding me? Really?

This was not fair. Sure he worked a lot, probably more than he should, but someone had to in his division given that his lieutenant wasn't bothered to do shit. Things had been hectic as of late, with the increased hollow activity and the whole Kuchiki case. Work had to be done. What were the odds that the one time when he was actually tired and nearly fell asleep on his job, not only was he caught but it was by Ichimaru Gin of all people! What a mess. He rubbed his temple in an attempt to soothe the earthquake in his head. Trying to keep his cool, he fixed his best icy glare at the man.

"What of it? And should you be calling Kuchiki Byakuya a brat? Aren't you the same age as him?" This made him pause. He definitely did not know that. It was just an educated guess based on his observations. Plus aging was different in Soul Society. Gin could have been younger or older when he died. Byakuya, on the other hand, was born.

Did Gin die though? Or was he born as well? It was extremely rare to die and come to the Spirit Society with a reiatsu level as abnormally high as his. Did Matsumoto know? With them being classmates back in the day…

I really don't know anything about the man.

His eyes widened a bit at the thought. He could never quite put his finger on why he had always had this innate curiosity about this man, why he wanted to unpack all those layers upon layers that made Ichimaru Gin. Maybe it was because they were both labeled geniuses? Or maybe, as vehemently as he denied it, their uncanny likeness? Maybe it was for Matsumoto's sake.

Yes, that was definitely it. Matsumoto Rangiku was their only connection. After all, there was no way he was letting his lieutenant be with someone who didn't get his personal seal of approval. And damn that woman for being so glaringly obvious about her feelings….ugh.

"What of it eh. How 'bout the fact that Ran chan's worried about ya, ya know. Ya should stop acting like a bratling."

"I am NOT-…!"

"Ya sure acting like one. Ya say ya're a grown up, but grown ups, real ones that are like Ran or Captain Ukitake, know their limits. They know when it's time to stop and take a breather, know when to ask for help and when to rely on others. They also know how important sleep is. Ya on the other hand, ignore 'em until yer own body screams at ya to stop." The man flicked his nose. "Ergo, bratling."

"I don't need you telling me off, Ichimaru!" bristled Toushiro, angrily swapping away the offending appendage. He didn't realize he was standing up, staring defyingly at the towering man or that his fists were balled and that he was leaking icy reiatsu in uncontrolled bursts.

"I don't need ANYONE...telling me off."

His breath hitched for a moment and he snuck a fleeting glance at Hyourinmaru, sitting innocently by the wall an uncomfortably large distance away. His fingers spasmed, itching to grab the comforting hilt of his zanpakuto. Inwardly cursing this childish weakness, he shot another soul chilling glare at the man, willing him to go away and stop bothering him.

"I've stopped being a child long ago, Ichimaru and you are the last person I want to hear preaches from. I've got work to do, which, by the way, as a captain of your own division you should be doing as well!" Taking a deep breath, Toushiro busied himself with the stray paperwork, moving automatically in familiar, comforting motions and ignoring the captain occupying his favourite angle of the desk altogether. "Go away."

Despite being completely focused on the task at hand, Toshiro could feel the steel gaze of Ichimaru Gin boring into his very soul. Repressing the urge to growl out loud, he bent down to retrieve a wayward document on the ground only to realize that his sandal had a loose knot in it. His eyes widened in disbelief.

Was he immersed that deep in his own thoughts the whole day to not notice? This really was getting out of hand.

It wasn't really the work around the division, no. It was more what was happening outside of it.

He had never given up, of course, on his former Taicho. Isshin-san was family, a caring soul who didn't cringe at his very presence. That was the man who accepted him, WANTED him. And then, just like that, he was gone without a word, leaving everything, the division, the work, him and Rangiku alone.

They said he was missing in action, most likely dead. Matsumoto believed it but he sure as hell didn't. His taicho was strong, he couldn't have died to a hollow. Who did they think they were fooling? Something was up. Toshiro could feel it in his very bones.

This was why he had secretly and as stealthily as possible started his little research to find the truth. And look where that led him. To sleepless nights and headaches and frustration. He was becoming sloppy.

But who could blame him. The little information he could find gave him little to nothing, other than the fact that he now knew of certain things Soul Society had tried to cover up before, like Hollowification and the trial of Urahara Kisuke or the disappearance of more than half of the Gotei 13 leaders nearly a hundred years ago.

The cover up stories and official documents he could get his hands on had more holes in them then an average Swiss Emmentaler. The fact that he thought the final mission Isshin-san took was directly related to all that made it worse.

Fell to a hollow...sure!

Ugh. His head hurt so much!

And there was Ichimaru himself. Why was he acting so strange as of late, being all sneaky and vague, pulling off his reiatsu in weird patterns in front of other souls just to make them scared of him, disgusted, terrified? Like snakes twisting around, choking, choking...Why the act! Toushiro knew it was an act, he could see through it. He was even putting up a show for Matsumoto. A show so good that she was actually falling for it. Gin was going out of his way to make the one person who knew him longest, the one person that had genuine ugh love towards him hate him. It was all so weird that a little voice in his head sometimes thought that it was all leading to something big, like this was all a big dinner and the main dish was soon to be served. Ichimaru Gin wanted to be seen as dangerous, like...

Like a suspect.

His eyebrow twitched as he groaned again. His hand went up instinctively to do something about the stupid pain. He, the youngest captain in Soul Society history ever, was losing to a simple idiotic headache. Unacceptable!

Before he could as much as scratch, he felt two arms engulfing him, pulling him in a warm embrace.

"Wha-" The words died in his throat as he realized what was going on."What are you doing, Ichimaru?"

He instinctively pressed against the warm, solid chest in a feeble attempt to push the man away. To his horror all strength seemed to have seeped out of him.

"Ya look like ya need a hug, Chibi-Taicho". A hand as bony as his own landed on top of his head to gently caress through his snowy locks. His cheeks pinked with momentary shame about the artificial grease keeping his hair up but the instant relief from pain made him lose his last remaining brain cell that screamed about the inappropriateness of the whole situation and he slumped on Gin in a pile of snowy goo.

He felt the arm around him tighten.

"Come now, ya need to loosen up a bit and stop trying to act like an adult for once. I don't want Ran coming to me with tears in her eyes because yer acting like an idiot." That sentence sounded like something he would say to Momo to get her off his back when she was being more obnoxious than usual. A familiar, glaring excuse if he ever heard one.

Why would Matumoto be an excuse though? He knew for a fact she was worried about him and as vehemently as he denied it, Gin was the person she would go to, given the nature of their relationship. It wasn't lieutenant Ise, it wasn't Ukitake, it was always Ichimaru Gin. Though she did show her care for Toushiro in a rather unique way when there was no one else around to ask for advice. Someone needed to tell that woman that suffocating in bigger than your casually enormous breasts was not a comforting hug for people who thought of her as the closest thing to a mother.

He shuddered at the mental reminder and unconsciously burrowed deeper into the shihakusho, focusing on the rapid heartbeat of the man currently caging him.

His brow furrowed. It was fast. Also, was he losing it or was there also something weird about Ichimarus voice too? Was he sick?

Wait, why should I even worry about him?

Annoyed, Toshiro had a fleeting thought to kick the man, but he didn't have the strength or true desire to do so. It was too warm, too comfortable. When was the last time someone hugged him like this? Someone who wasn't repulsed by him and his creepy white hair and his eerie eyes, his cold demeanor that matched his body temperature to a T...

He gripped the fabric of Gin's haori. Only Gran had ever hugged him like that. Matsumoto's hugs were different, he felt squished in them, suffocating in the literal and metaphorical sense, but Gin's was different. It was like Gran's. It was different but at the same time, so...very familiar.

How different? Why familiar?

He couldn't quite place it. Focusing on anything other than the man's heartbeat and the back and forth of bony fingers through his hair was proving to be tough.

It felt too warm, almost as safe as his inner world whenever he visited his dragon. Gin was right, maybe just this once he could loosen up? Maybe...

The room shifted as he felt the man rise to his feet, consequently lifting Toushiro as well. A hand secured itself under his thighs while the one in his hair migrated to support his back.

He was being baby-carried.

"This is so demeaning," he whispered into the cloth he was gripping, eyes screwed shut in humiliation but not letting go. Why, why couldn't he let go? Why didn't he want to let go in the first place? He should be angry, he should rage, freeze the man to the chair and be done with him, his weird schemes and smile.

"I am far too old for this, Ichimaru.."

"Nobody is too old for hugs, Shiro-chan," said Gin. "Or for free rides", he added, clutching him tighter and dipping sideways into a gentle sway.

A gentle hum filled the silence, the strange yet eerily nostalgic tone washing over Toshiro like a summer breeze.

This was familiar. Something triggered in the very back of his mind, painting a picture of Ichimaru Gin in Rukongai with a white haired baby in his arms, singing this very song with an honest, playful grin plastered across his youthful face.

But no, wait, that was impossible. Gin wasn't with him in Rukongai, It was Gran, plus, he was way older than that when he died...there was no way Gin could be...

The picture in his mind blurred out of existence and he felt a sinking feeling of disappointment settle deep within his bones. So much so that his eyes teared up.

The silverette paused his humming for a second way too long for his liking but thankfully didn't comment, just housed him up in a more comfortable position.

"Come on, Shiro-chan, sleep."

He nodded absentmindedly, already halfway to dreamworld. One would say it was crazy, being able to relax and fully let his guard down in this situation, considering what facade the man put on. Snakes, evilness, cruelty...a facade. Right now, it was too much. Too many secrets, too many unknowns. Hollowfications, Gin's game, Kuchiki's sister's prolonged stay in the real world.. It could all wait. For once, he just wanted to be and feel like a child that he loathed to admit he was.

"..this feeling just, just carries a heat that's like the sunset. The night, is still.." murmured Gin, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Something with sparkly stars, thought Toushiro hazily and finally succumbed to a slumber surrounded by the warmth of a person who in all appearances was a cold hearted ice prick.

Ichimaru Gin tightened his grip around the small boy, fast asleep in his arms. "Unlike the star

After the rain, It just...just glows.."

Shiro-chan was definitely going to figure out some things. And he knew he just made things ten times worse. Who was he fooling? Tch. He knew that coming to see the littlest captain was not on behalf of Rangiku. He had been spewing webs of lies so much around himself but he could at least keep his dignity and admit the truth, even if it's only to himself.

He pressed his nose into the snowy white hair and let out a labored breath.

"I won't let him have ya, Toshiro, I swear, even if I die, Aizen will never get his hands on ya!"

The night came to pass, just like any other night in Seireitei. Nor was there anyone to witness the silver haired captain carefully lower the sleeping child on the couch, cover him thoroughly in a blanket and leave with one last ruffle of hair and a gentle kiss of a promise on the forehead.

By the time Hitsugaya Toshiro woke up not even a hint of his reiatsu remained in the Captain's room of the tenth division.