Well, since a couple of you suggested it, and it seems a good idea, I may just start up a Bleach/WoW offshoot to detail the journeys of Icingdeath, Twinkle, Entreri and the others, every once in a while giving a glimpse into the players and their various hilarious arguments...I don't know when I'll start it, what I'll call it, or anything else about it...but I might just do it.

Well, now my personal fanservice is at an end, and we're back to dealing with canon characters and situations. No more crossovers. At least for a while. Obviously I might do some more later on in this story's lifespan if the idea strikes my fancy, but for now...let's just stick with the regular Bleach-verse, shall we?

"It's...always a shame. Wouldn't you say?"

"Eh?"

Frowning at his companion, Aizen Sousuke raised a thin eyebrow. "This. Aren't you...affected by it?"

"'At guy ain't 'ffected by nuttin', Taichou," came a voice from behind them. Aizen turned and glanced at his adjutant as he sauntered forward.

"Do you think, Gin? That's a rather harsh thing to say about a superior officer, wouldn't you say?"

Ichimaru's ever-present grin widened slightly. "I dunno 'bout that, Taichou. Ya might say it's a compliment. Psychopath makes a good soldier, don'tcha think?"

A laugh, and the three men turned to regard their sole female companion.

Matsumoto Rangiku crossed her arms. "Come off it, Gin. My captain's the furthest thing from a psychopath as you can get."

A laugh from said captain. "Now, I think that might be harsh, my dear little officer. I might think that you are...insinuating something here."

Matsumoto smirked. "I might think that you might be right."

Kazuhiko Senichi chuckled. "Ever playful, aren't you, Rangiku-chan?"

Matsumoto winked.

Aizen frowned thoughtfully. "Well...the hollow has moved on from this area...I suppose we should, as well. But before we do...one of us should handle this."

"He's hysterical," Kazuhiko muttered. "Look at 'im, crying his head off. He's not going to listen. He's too young to even understand what's going on."

"Then why bother talkin' to 'im at all?" Ichimaru asked. "Jus' do it 'n let 'im figure it out on 'is own."

"Gin, that's cruel!" Matsumoto said with a slight chuckle, pushing him on the shoulder. "We can't do that to the little guy! Look at him! He can't be more than five!"

"You don' look more 'n twenty, Rangiku-chan, 'n how old're you? Kid might be a couple hun'rd f' all we know."

"He'd have been taken by a hollow by that point," Kazuhiko said.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows?"

Aizen adjusted his glasses. "Judging by his current behavior, I would guess that he is newly deceased. If so much time had gone by, he would have long since stopped crying for his mother."

Ichimaru looked at the child in question. "Yeah...guess so. So whadda we do? Play janken for it?"

Aizen looked back at the pair of vice-captains. "Senichi and I will scout the area for traces of our target. You two decide amongst yourselves who will handle the boy."

"...Guess 'at settles it, then. C'mon, Rangiku-chan. Le's go say hi to the kid."

Matsumoto shrugged and followed her friend toward the white-haired child crying hysterically in the snow.

"Hey. Hey-hey...c'mon now. Hush up, kid."

Blinking large, wet, shining green eyes, the boy stopped crying enough to stare up at the silver-haired vice-captain currently staring at him through closed eyes.

Matsumoto knelt down and smiled. "Hello, there, little one. Why are you crying?"

She tried her best to speak in a calm, soothing voice, and kept her face open, friendly, and benevolent. Ichimaru remained standing, face as impassive as it ever was.

He'd apparently decided to let Matsumoto do the rest of the work. Which was probably a good thing, because she wasn't sure if her friend was all that good at dealing with children, and couldn't really imagine it even when she tried.

Sniffling, the boy wiped his nose and blinked up at her. "...I...I can't find...find my mommy..."

Matsumoto frowned sympathetically. "Awww...poor li'l guy..." She reached out and stroked a strand of stray hair behind the boy's left ear. "That's too bad..."

"Tell ya a secret, kid," Ichimaru put in, apparently having decided he wasn't going to be silent after all, "I think I might know where ya can find 'er."

The boy turned his face to the silver-haired man. "R-R-Really?"

"Yup."

"Where?"

"'S a place we like t' call 'Soul Society.'"

"...Where's that?"

Ichimaru popped a finger up toward the sky. "'S up there. See, 's kinda magical, this place. 'N ya can only get there 'f we help ya."

"Y-You think...my mommy is there?"

"Poss'bly. Y'oughtta go there 'n look."

"Tell you what, little guy," Matsumoto said suddenly. "You think about that for a second. I'm going to talk to my friend for a bit."

Still sniffling, the boy nodded. "...'Kay."

"What are you doing, Gin?! You have no idea where that kid's mother is! She might not even be dead!"

Ichimaru shrugged. "Look, Rangiku-chan, our job ain't t' be truthful. Our job's t' send souls up t' Soul Society. Kid ain't gonna know I'm lyin'. Hell, you dunno if she ain't dead. What'f she's there?

"But that ain't the point. Point is, we gotta get that kid up there. 'N like yer cap'n said, he ain't gonna listen to us 'f we tell 'im 'e's dead. Gonna think we're crazy 'n keep on cryin' f' Mama."

"That doesn't mean you should tell him such a blatant lie, Gin! He's just a kid!"

"Wish I cared, Rangiku-chan. I'll be honest witcha. I'd jus' as soon let 'im get eaten. Don' make no dif'rence t' me. We're wagin' a war 'gainst the hollows, here, 'n I ain't gonna let m'self get all hung up on every li'l civilian 'at gets caught 'n between. 'At'll jus' drive me crazy, 'n I'd rather not do that."

Surprised, and yet not surprised, by her friend's callousness, Matsumoto sighed and just waved a hand in his direction. It was no use discussing morality with Ichimaru Gin, and she knew that better than anyone.

"...Fine. Let's just...get it over with."

Ichimaru nodded.

"She's pretty, huh?"

The boy blinked. "...Huh?"

"M' friend here. S'okay. Ya can admit it. Like lookin' at 'er, huh?"

"Gin!" Matsumoto cried, smacking him playfully on the shoulder. "He's too young for that! Don't talk to him like that!"

Ichimaru chuckled. "C'mon, now. Yer a boy. Ya can tell me. 'N I'll tell ya this: you go t' Soul Society, ya might even meet 'er there. 'N who knows? Get old 'nuff, she might even date ya. Rangiku-chan likes a good time, ya know."

"Gin, shut up!" Matsumoto tried so say indignantly, but ended up laughing. "That's embarrassing! Aren't you my friend? That's not a nice thing to say!"

Ichimaru ignored his fellow vice-captain and leaned in close to the boy. "Letcha in on a secret, kid," he said softly. "Rangiku-chan's a soldier, 'n she's got herself a commander. 'At guy back 'ere with the beard. See 'im? She don't like 'im. Maybe y'oughtta try gettin' our job when ya get there. Betcha Mommy'd be proud o' ya, 'n maybe you'll take 'at guy's place. You'd be nice t' Rangiku-chan, wouldn'tcha? Yeah, I betcha would."

The boy simply stared at him, not understanding one word in six. He clearly had absolutely no clue what Ichimaru was talking about.

"Ah..." Ichimaru sighed and shrugged. "You'll understand later."

He slipped Shinsou out of its sheathe and slapped the boy's forehead with the hilt. Falling backward with a grunt, the white-haired child stared at the pair as he vanished, tears still welling in his eyes.

"...Toushirou?"

Blinking, Hitsugaya looked up from the sheet of paper in his hand at his vice-captain. "...Huh? What is it, Rangiku?"

"Meeting. C'mon. Let's go."

"O-Oh. Right. Sorry."

Setting the sheet down, he adjusted his cloak and walked with Matsumoto out of the Tenth Division's headquarters and toward the First's.

As they walked, Hitsugaya found himself watching his adjutant as she walked, wondering if the memories that had suddenly jumped into his head upon seeing that old report were completely accurate.

Had she been there?

Had it been Ichimaru who...?

It had all been so clear, but...was it true?

He wasn't sure. It seemed so...so romance-novel cliché.

Perhaps it wasn't a memory at all, but a dream.

He honestly couldn't tell for sure which.

Sighing, Hitsugaya simply shook his head and put it out of his mind. It didn't really matter, honestly. It was either a dream or one hell of a coincidence.

As he walked beside Matsumoto, Hitsugaya frowned, eyes drawn to her hand. Had that hand tried to comfort him, so many years ago, while Aizen and Kazuhiko searched for a hollow and Ichimaru grinned his manic grin and thought his manic thoughts?

Acting on simple impulse, he reached out and took hold of that hand.

Matsumoto looked at him, surprised.

He simply shrugged.

She smiled, squeezed the hand holding hers, and turned her eyes forward again.

As they walked, Kyouraku – half-walking, half-dragged by his vice-captain – stumbled across them. He grinned and nodded a greeting.

"Hello, Rangiku-chan, Hitsugaya-kun."

"Good morning, Kyouraku-taichou."

Nanao nodded a greeting but said nothing.

Hitsugaya followed her lead.

Kyouraku straightened, caught the fact that his fellow shinigamis' hands were linked in a decidedly non-professional manner, and grinned widely.

"Ho-ho...look at this...and you thought Hinamori-chan was lying," he chuckled, nudging Nanao with one elbow.

"Hand-holding hardly constitutes what you think is going on," Nanao muttered.

"It might," Matsumoto offered coyly, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"It all depends on what Kyouraku thinks is going on," Hitsugaya added, "and how much free time we happen to have."

Nanao stared, unblinking.

Kyouraku laughed loudly. "Ha! Wonderful! Just wonderful! Ah, I'm happy for you! This calls for a celebration!"

"After the meeting," Nanao said sharply, regaining her immaculate composure. Adjusting her glasses slightly, she glared at her captain with a no-nonsense expression that bespoke no argument.

Sighing, Kyouraku nodded miserably. "Of course...let's go, then."

The four shinigami continued walking.

Kyouraku glanced back at Hitsugaya and winked. "I told you, Hitsugaya-kun. That you'd understand when you got a little older."

"...I suppose you were right."

The grin widened. "Of course, I did mislead you a bit back then. You see, if I recall, I told you that...oh, what was it...?"

"That I had the most beautiful, ravishing vice-captain in the entire Gotei 13."

Matsumoto blinked, a slight blush coming to her face. "Did you say that, Kyouraku-taichou?"

"I did," he answered, but lowered his eyes. "And I'm most assuredly sorry to admit that that was a bit of a lie. You see...not to be so narcissistic, you understand, but...I'm afraid I hold that particular honor."

Nanao grunted and rolled her eyes.

Hitsugaya smirked. "And I'm afraid that I will have to disagree with that, Kyouraku. To be entirely narcissistic, you understand."

Kyouraku responded with another laugh. "Good man! Bravo!"

Matsumoto's blush deepened.

Nanao sighed again.

Hitsugaya's smirk widened.

Get old 'nuff, she might even date ya. Rangiku-chan likes a good time, ya know.

Extensively ironic coincidence?

A dream?

Hitsugaya decided it was both.

If the quality of this installment is less than usual...sorry. I'm a bit tired. I just wanted to get this up for those of you unfamiliar with my crossovers, and just want to read about the Tenth Division's leading officers. I can't blame you, and I'm sorry for confusing you with these past couple chapters. I hope I may be forgiven.

'Til next time.