Loss To Love Chapter 5
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo groaned from the light shining through the window directly over his face. Trying to turn over to block the sunlight, he was confused as to why there was no room to turn over his body. Shuffling around on the couch he still didn't realize he was on, he turned the other way to far and fell over, tangled in the blanket.
Baffled by what just happened to him, Ichigo blinked owlishly staring at the roof. He stayed there laying on the ground for some time until he heard footsteps approaching him. His brown eyes met the amused turquoise ones of Toshiro Hitsugaya. Ichigo just gave him a cheeky grin.
"What are you doing Kurosaki?" amusement lacing the shorter boys voice.
Knowing that Ichigo wasn't going to get out of this situation without looking like an idiot, he just rolled over his stomach and got up, towering over the shorter male. Stretching and letting out a satisfying sigh from all the joints and kinks going into place, he finally set his sights on the captain.
"I was just… I don't know." A faint blush took over Ichigo's cheeks as Toshiro chuckled lightly. Hearing Toshiro, Ichigo wondered when was the last time he heard Toshiro laugh, or if he laughed ever.
'Probably only around Hinamori...but I'm glad I'm one of those people now.' Ichigo rubbed the back of his head somewhat embarrassed from his thought. He watched the back of Toshiro as he went to his desk and started gathering certain papers and putting them into a folder. He then gathered up his sword and sash, putting them on before heading towards the door.
"Hey, where're you going Toshiro-"
"It's Hitsugaya-Taichou to you. And I'm going out on a mission."
"What's the mission about?" Ichigo ignored Toshiro's comment and ran after the smaller man as he briskly walked out of the 10th barracks towards the 13th barracks.
"It's just some stray hollow around the Rukongai that we need to take care of. Some low class shinigami and civilians have already went missing so we want to deal with this as quickly as possible...Would you like to come?"
To say Ichigo was shocked would be an understatement. Byakuya being the first, Toshiro was second on his list of smartasses that he should avoid. These days though even though he's seen it partially, Toshiro has a soft side reserved for those that he closely cared about. He saw a glimpse of it last night when he was dozing off and Toshiro saw him, but didn't say anything.
When Toshiro mentioned going on a mission, he was ready to jump on that taking no for an answer. But he didn't have to make himself look like a hyperactive child going to a theme park now. Though he was confused why Toshiro was giving him permission to go with him this time (though he doesn't need permission in the first place…).
How come you're letting me come this time-even though I wouldn't take no for an answer." He watched Toshiro roll his eyes at his comment before answering.
"This mission will probably take a while so I want to take some strong soldiers with me so that we can get the job done...a-and I wouldn't mind h-having you with me…"
Ichigo stared and the now blushing albino he was walking next to, surprise and shock painting across his face.
"Toshiro…" Ichigo was surprised to see more of the smaller man's nice side.
"N-not that I like having you near me all the time! Someone needs to watch over you and I can't count on Matsumoto since she'll convince you to start drinking sake. Besides you're too irresponsible to leave by yourself, you'll likely start causing trouble or destroy something like you typically do."
Any nice thoughts Ichigo had about Toshiro flew out the window at that moment. Getting pissed at the 10th Captain and a vein popped in his forehead.
"Excuse me! I am not irresponsible as you seem to make me! It's not my fault Kenpachi wants to fight me every other day, and the other captains hate my guts, especially Byakuya. And you should be thanking me since I did all your paperwork and tidied up your office last night!"
Toshiro scoffed. "I saw and I thank you for that, but that's only a one-time thing. Doesn't describe you whole personality; and I can do the paperwork myself, I didn't need your help on that. I'm the babysitter here and you're the child, just behave and everybody will be happy."
"Why you…" Ichigo's face flushed in anger, one second from jumping on the other male next to him-though he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the prodigy.
Ichigo had a retort at the tip of his tongue, but Juushiro Ukitake had called out to Toshiro and Ichigo to get their attention.
"Ah, Toshiro-kun welcome back. I see you brought Kurosaki-kun along with you…"
"I decided that it'll be alright to bring him along, just as long as he behaves through the meeting."
"Okay then, if it's fine with you it's fine with me. Well then come along so that we aren't holding everybody else up."
Toshiro gave Ichigo a smug look while Ichigo fumed in anger, Toshiro the clear winner of their little spout. They followed Captain Ukitake to the training grounds where other shinigami were selected to go with the two captains on the mission. A total of 15 men and women were gathered together, all seated officers. They were chatting amongst themselves, waiting for Hitsugaya-Taichou and Ukitake-Taichou to start the briefing.
Ichigo went towards the group of shinigami, all of them giving him warm greetings as they knew he was the shinigami that fought against the traitor Aizen.
"Hi Kurosaki-kun. Surprised to see you here, especially walking beside Hitsugaya-Taichou." A girl with short brunette hair and chocolate brown eyes said to him. 'Kiyomi was it…?',Ichigo thought.
"Yeah well, he said it was alright for me to go on this mission this time, but the prick only said that because he was babysitting me...thought I was too irresponsible to take care of myself here." Ichigo huffed. Some of the girls giggled along with chuckles of the men.
"I can somewhat understand Hitsugaya-Taichou though," another guy named Kyon said. "Every time you're fighting, nothing is spared in your battle. You're like a walking column of destruction. Everybody look out! It's Ichigo Kurosaki, the walking body of destruction!"
Ichigo flushed with embarrassment and anger as everybody burst out laughing . He didn't notice Ukitake and Hitsugaya-Taichou look over in surprise at the suddenly laughing group and Ichigo putting Kyon in a headlock.
Toshiro's POV
Toshiro glanced over at the group of chosen shinigami that suddenly burst into loud laughing. He watched Ichigo put his 4th seat officer in a headlock, his face red with anger. He sighed at the strawberry head's antics, turning back to the discussion him and Ukitake-Taichou were having.
"Ah...youth is such a wonderful thing. I wish I was that age again." Ukitake said gazing fondly at the group of shinigami.
"Your fine for your age...and you don't need Kurosaki-san reminding you of your youth." Toshiro scoffed. 'He reminds you to safe proof your office so that nothing breaks,' Toshiro thought while scowling.
"Eh, back to last name terms I see. Did you and Kurosaki-kun argue about something?" Inquired Ukitake-Taichou with an amused look on his face.
Toshiro sputtered at the older man's question, already knowing the man was teasing him.
"There is nothing going on, calling Kurosaki-san by his first name was a one-time deal only! Anyway let's get back to our other conversation...what did you mean other hollow than regular ones were sited?"
Ukitake quickly changed his attitude from jovial and teasing to serious. His lips turned into a grim line.
"Yes well, one of the reports sent back from the recon parties sent back some arrancar were prowling around in some areas like they were claiming territories. Some more keep on sprouting out but don't go near the civilian villages. The villagers that went missing though were ones that went too far from the village and too close to the arrancars territories. Even though they aren't hunting down humans, it's still problematic for the shinigami and villagers to go missing without us doing nothing about it."
"I see…," Toshiro contemplated. So they'll have to work harder to eliminate both the hollows and arrancar from the surrounding areas in the Rukongai. Toshiro rubbed a hand through his hair, frustration laced in the sigh he released. Coming to a decision he decided to gather the shinigami's attention to let them know of the situation.
"Listen up everybody," he waited to get everybody's attention. "We've been informed that it's not just hollows sighted in the Rukongai, but some arrancar as well. There are probably strong so be on guard even though we don't know their strengths and weaknesses. Let's split up into groups of five to cover each of the sections, got it?" Everybody nodded their consent.
"Okay, then let's get moving." Everybody flashed stepped out of the 13th towards the gates of the Soul Society, beginning their mission.