Ch8

Toshiro sat in his office debating what to do with Netto. I can't just let him run lose, Captain Yamamoto will get really upset. He frowned at the ceiling. It would be better to at least train, then I'll set the ground work and have him officially recognized.

It could work if done right, and if Captain Yamamoto was in a good mood. I'm sure I can find some loophole. Tell him of the benefits of having him and that its already done. The possibility was there.

He shrugged and quickly finished his work. Looking over his clock anxiously he did his best to concentrate on his work though his mind kept going back to Hikari Netto. Deep down he was glad he still remembered him and their fun conversations they had years ago.

So much time passed for me, but for him it was just a few years. After organizing his work he quickly grabbed a brown cloak and his zanpakuto.

The door opened and he froze. "Captain where are you going?" Rangiku asked.

"I'm doing a private errand. I'll be back soon," he said curtly.

His lieutenant raised an eyebrow but he quickly left the room. Hopefully she doesn't snoop around too much. He wasn't worried about her though, Rangiku may be more lax but she was still loyal.

Taking a deep breath he discreetly left the Soul Society and entered the mortal realm. It was already night in Akihara yet an uneasy feeling passed over him as he looked over the town.

Something isn't right here I can feel it. The reports of an unusual disturbance in the area troubled him, there had been no attacks so far but he knew something was up and he had a feeling deep down that Hikari Netto was related to it in some way.

He quickly made his way to the park where he found Hikari Netto in his Shinigami form. It was weird seeing his friend dressed in black like a Shinigami and holding a zanpakuto at his side he had to admit it looked good on him.

"Hey Toshiro," Netto said with a grin. "Hope you don't get into too much trouble for this."

"I won't but don't worry," he said. Drawing his zanpakuto he showed it to Netto. A zanpakuto has an accompanying spirit, it is a part of your soul share your resolve. They are born alongside you and die with you."

Netto looked at his blade in curiosity. "Looks cool."

He nodded. "We can communicate with them through a meditative process called Jinzen, I'll show you it later. There are two forms, a shikai and bankai and their powers differ greatly. Now stand back as I show you something.

"U-Uh ok," Netto said as he stepped back

Taking a deep breath he gripped his sword. "Sit upon the frozen heavens Hyornimaru!"

A cold blue aura enveloped him as he swung his blade. As he activated his shikai a frozen dragon made of his flew from his sword and into the water of the pond freezing it.

Netto clapped. "Wow cool!"

"I-It's nothing," he said doing his best to not appear flustered. "I'm sure your shikai will be something fitting for you."

"Well I hope I figure it out soon," Netto said as he folded his arms. "How did you figure out yours?"

He avoided his gaze. "Through experience." Gripping his sword he looked back up at him. "Come on let me see what you have learned."

Netto drew his sword. "Alright lets do this."

He came at Netto quickly, his friend barely raised his sword in time to block the attack. Maybe I should slow down a bit. Netto's basics weren't bad, the brunette managed to block his attacks when he slowed down along with putting up a decent offense.

Not horrible for a beginner. He'd seen worse but had seen better as well. He has the potential I'll give him that.

He blocked Netto's attack and went on the offensive. Netto's brow furrowed as he was bushed back and barely managed to keep up with him.

He pushed him back further, Netto started to have a harder time keeping up with him. Netto winced as he landed a hit on his arm, lightly grazing him but to his credit the brunette didn't drop his weapon.

"Damn Toshiro how long have you been doing this?" Netto asked as he swung at him.

"Years," he replied as he blocked the attack. "Keep your focus up, don't hesitate. In a real fight don't expect the enemy to go easy on you."

Netto nodded as he tried to keep up. Sweat was forming on the brunette's forehead as he tried to block the attacks.

He landed a hit and another. Netto winced with each hit but the boy did not yield until he pushed so far back he accidently tripped and fell.

"We are done here," he said as he pointed the tip of his sword at Netto's neck.

Sheathing his zanpakuto he extended a hand and helped Netto up. "Th-Thanks," Netto said.

After putting his sword away Netto brushed the dirt off of him. "Man you really are strong."

"I trained a lot," he said. "Come on I'll walk you home."

"Sure I don't live far," Netto said.

Turns out his house was actually a block away. They both leaped onto the balcony that lead to Netto's room and went inside.

As soon as Netto got into his body the boy sat up. "Thanks for coming by."

"It was nothing," he said. "It's been a while."

"Yeah so much as has changed," Netto said.

"Your father still works in technology?" he asked as he sat down on a chair.

Netto nodded. "Yeah. He doesn't believe in spirits at all. To be honest I thought he and my mom would put me in an institution if I kept talking about you."

He sighed. "Yeah not everyone believes in the world just beyond their vision. Everything else alright?"

Netto shrugged. "Yeah pretty much. I help fight cyber crime to."

He raised an eye brow. "Cyber crime?"

Netto nodded and with that began to explain the basics of the internet and the cyber world. How his father and grandfather worked hard on it and now humanity was learning to evolve with it.

He also talked a bit about his time as a Shinigami and all the training he went through along with the comrades he made.

"Wow sounds cool," Netto said. "I wonder what the soul society is like?"

"It can be hectic," he said as he looked over at an alarm clock and saw it was pretty early in the morning. "I should get going. I'll be back when I can."

Netto nodded. "It was nice seeing you again."

"Likewise," he said before leaving the room.

Man I haven't had a normal conversation with him in a long time. It was different talking to Netto than say the people in his division. To be honest, he enjoyed the break from being captain and having a conversation with a friendly face that wasn't about his line of work.

"Toshiro?" Asked a voice that made him freeze.

Crap. He slowly turned around and saw Momo looking at him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Uh I just wanted to stroll around and make sure everything was safe," he said as calmly as he could.

Momo raised an eyebrow. "Really? You know I am more than capable of handling things here."

"I- I know I just wanted to check things out for myself," he said. "I should get going now."

He quickly left before she could ask anymore questions. Oh god I hope Netto doesn't open his mouth about me around her, it would be awkward.

He quickly got back to the soul society and discreetly went back to his living quarters without any trouble.

Taking a deep breath he set his zanpakuto by the side of his bed. He is a good person deep down. Hopefully Captain Yamamoto can be lenient with him.

That night he found himself in a familiar icy realm facing a large ice dragon. "Hyornimaru," he said softly. "What is it?"

The ice dragon looked at him. "You know I've never felt you this excited before."

He frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

The dragon chuckled. "You know you never really had friends before. I remember when I latched onto you your life was pretty lonely."

He avoided the dragon's gaze. It was true, back in the day people thought he was weird. It hurt that no one wanted to play with him. Outside of Momo Netto was always excited to see and talk to me.

"You care for that kid deep down," Hyornimaru said. "I can feel it, you haven't felt this way about someone in a long time."

"I do," he said softly looking into the snow. "We were friends despite the distance between us."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hyornimaru looked at him, he couldn't tell if the dragon was smirking or not. "All I'm saying is you want to protect him. I say you should stand up for your friend and keep him safe from the politics you Shinigami do."

He sighed. "I know."

The dragon looked down at him. "You should learn to be happy, you deserve it just as much as everyone else."

AN: As for the timeline right now Netto is like 12/13. He first met Yoruichi and began training before the events of the battle network canon so about a year has passed.

As for bleach I purposefully left it ambiguous and really didn't put much thought into it since I'm not covering any major events in the Bleach canon.

This story will strictly be its own thing away from the canon of each series.