Sometimes I do this just because I want to play around with character voices.
I love these kids.
.
Hitsugaya stepped into his office with a perfectly pleasant expression on his face, and only Matsumoto would ever be able to tell that it was a mask. The twins sat prim and proper on the little couch set off from the desks, looking like they were waiting for a doctor to come examine them. They were clearly nervous, but they seemed perfectly content to sit and wait for Mister Captain to tell them what they ought to do next.
"So?" Matsumoto prompted. "What did Ikka—er, I mean, Captain Madarame have to say?"
She often made that mistake.
It was hard to offer proper deference and respect to a man you dragged home in a drunken stupor so often that it became its own drinking game.
"It's how his power manifests," Hitsugaya said. "So long as he possesses someone's shadow, he can control that person. He cannot, however, force a person past their limits. Which is to say, he can only use a puppet to accomplish what that person would be capable of doing."
Matsumoto nodded. "So, this is just a stepping stone," she said, gesturing to the twins.
"Undoubtedly, yes."
"Is he gonna hurts us?" Hibiki asked, kicking his legs back and forth and watching the floor where his shadow wasn't. "Is he gonna kills us?"
Hitsugaya didn't look the boy's way immediately. Matsumoto watched her captain set his face into another mask before he did. He said: "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen, Hibiki. If I'm going to do that, though, I need the both of you to do exactly what I ask you to do. All right?"
Hibiki nodded. "Okies."
Izumi held up one hand to her temple in a little salute. "Yes, sir, Mister Captain."
"You're going to stay here, in this building," Hitsugaya said. "If you need to go somewhere, wait for me or for Miss Matsumoto." He gestured to his vice-captain. "Until we know where Mister West is, and what he wants . . . so long as he has your shadows, we have to make sure you're secure. Do you know what secure means?"
"It means you're gonna puts us in a box," Hibiki said.
"Don't be a dummy-head," Izumi said. "It means safe."
"It means you're gonna puts us in a safe," Hibiki said.
Matsumoto snorted. Izumi rolled her eyes dramatically.
"We need to keep you safe," Hitsugaya said, somehow keeping a straight face. "You need to stay with one, or both, of us at all times. Do you understand?"
They both nodded.
"Rangiku."
"Yes, Captain."
"I want everyone wearing our sigil brought up to speed. Everyone under our purview needs to know what we're looking for. If there's a squirrel who doesn't belong in this court, I want to know about it. We don't know who, or what, we're looking for. He could be using anything."
"Sir," said Matsumoto.
"I tolds you squirrels could be captains," Izumi said.
"The man who disappeared on his way to Kurotsuchi was undoubtedly one of his thralls," Hitsugaya said. Then he paused. "I can't remember if he had a shadow."
Matsumoto frowned. "I could not tell you for the life of me," she admitted. "I've never specifically looked for someone's shadow before."
"What about you two?" Hitsugaya asked the twins. "The man who attacked me, when we first found you. Did he have a shadow?"
Hibiki shrugged. "I don't 'members, Mister Captain."
"I don't think he gots one," Izumi said. "It's hard to think, though, a'cuz he always talked in alleys and doors and stuffs. So's I never gots to see."
"I'm not sure we have any choice but to assume he wants one thing," Hitsugaya said. "Up, and up, and up the ranks. Until he has control over the strongest of us all."
"The Captain-Commander?" Matsumoto wondered, sounding incredulous.
"Possibly," Hitsugaya said, "but anyone stupid enough to have aims that high will be stupid enough to aim higher."
". . . The Soul King?"
"Mm," said Hitsugaya. "It wouldn't be the first time, or the second."