Title: Broken Trust

Genre: Angst

Characters: Toshiro and the Vandenreich

Summary: Toshiro heads to Vandenreich only to find his big mistake coming back to bite him in the butt.

Rating: T

Broken Trust II

Toshiro found himself opening the gate and path with great ease. Getting there seemed to easy as he arrived in the place. Glancing around, it wasn't much different then Soul Society and he found himself taking everything in. He then began to wander about until he got to outside a village. He pulled his clock around him and slid into the shadows of a building.

Looking around he found himself watching the villagers move about. Things seemed no different and his mind tried taking in everything. "I don't understand. They seem no different from us."

His conscious suddenly found himself feeling the presence of someone coming behind him. The child taicho turned to look at the person, only to find himself sent flying with a nice kick to the stomach. "What the hell do you think you're doing lurking around like that in the shadows?"

Toshiro felt his hand reach for his blade, only to pause as he heard those around him speak. "It's a Shinigami." And... "What's a Shinigami doing here?"

"You're a Shinigami?" The man came up and spit on the ground. "They wish death to any with Quincy blood. Brat, why are you here."

The small boy frowned, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know what you mean."

"You're here to spy on us, aren't you. To give us away to your comrades so that the can come and kill us." The man suddenly kicked Toshiro in the chest again and he then felt the man stepping on his throat.

"Stop it!" A voice rang out from the crowd. "He may be a Shinigami, but I doubt his majesty would be pleased with you harming a child."

"Take him to the ice palace. Let them deal with his punishment."

Toshiro found himself scooped up as his fingers twisted around his throat. "I'm a..."

"I don't care squat about you, but I can't have word getting back to our leader that I killed a Shinigami brat without his permission." The man began to drag him only to have the small taicho suddenly fight back, biting down on his hand. To his surprise he found himself held down by others while someone landed a blow that knocked him unconscious.

The next thing he knew he was waking up in a dark cellar, his body hanging limply from chains on the wall. "Boy... did I mess up again."

"Boy..." Toshiro glanced up and saw that two men were looking at him.

"Who are you?"

"You don't have the right to speak with us Shinigami." One of the man suddenly kicked him in the still sore spot.

"All I did was..." The boy found himself kicked in the stomach and the content of his stomach coming up. He gritted his teeth and clamped his eyes shut. "All I want to know is where I am and who these people are." He could feel them beating on his body and he was unable to fight back with the way his body was chained. He could feel the blood starting to drip from his mouth.

He heard the jail door open and he continued to keep his eyes shut. "What the hell do you think you three are doing?"

"Your highness."

Toshiro opened his eyes weakly and turned to look towards the steps. A man stepped down and he clamped his eyes shut. He heard a key go into the locks that bound his arms and legs to the wall and one limb at a time was released. He carefully rubbed the feeling back into his wrist while keeping his eyes shut.

A hand suddenly reached out to touch his cheeks and he flinched. "I apologize for the way you were treated. You weren't supposed to be thrown into the cells if someone brought you in, you should have been brought straight to the infirmary if you were unconscious like that."

"Aren't I a prisoner?" The boy glanced up, his eyes going wide as he realized it was the man he had fight before. "You... your the man who..."

"Follow me." The man turned to look at the men who wee cowering. "You should hope that his majesty is in a good mood, but I doubt he is."

Toshiro followed behind the man, his lips pushing together in frustration. He glanced around and took in the fact that various people were taking the site of a Shinigami being there in. He glanced at the ground as the got to two rather large doors and the soldiers on either side opened them. He then followed the man and watched as he made a bow in the Western style towards the front of the room.

Looking up slightly, he saw a man on a thrown. The man who was in front of him spoke up. "I brought the boy."

"What happened? I thought he was thrown into the cells without my permission, but someone also went so far as to beat the child?" The man narrowed his eyes. "Who beat you up child?"

Toshiro's eyes widened as he looked right at the man. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why are you interested in who beat me up?"

The man stared at him, his eyes narrowed and his mouth shut. Eventually he spoke up. "They beat you up despite the fact there was no order to do so."

"So?" Toshiro watched as the man raised an eyebrow from curiosity.

"Care to explain why you don't think I should punish them?"

"I am the enemy, am I not? So it would make sense that they would treat me as anyone would treat the enemy."

"Let me ask you a question. How would you Shinigami punish a soldier who threw an enemy into a jail cell and then proceeded to beat them up without permission."

"Jail time."

"Schwarz... do you know who beat the boy up?"

Toshiro felt the man suddenly touch his shoulders lightly. "They were a few men who were in there for being insubordinate in the first place."

Have their time start over, double it and add ten days."

"Isn't..." The boy found himself clamping his mouth shut. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the man suddenly lean forward.

"You are rather beat up. You can stay in the infirmary or we can send someone to your quarters to heal you up."

"Wait..." Toshiro frowned. "I'm an enemy, am I not? Shouldn't I be put back into the jail cell? I got caught trespassing into your territory, did I not?"

"You're not a prisoner." The corners of the man turned up. "You're not a guest either though."

"I don't understand."

"There is a lot you don't know about yourself. Schwarz, if you would take him to his quarters I would appreciate it. I don't want anyone causing harm to my heir again."

Toshiro's eyes went wide and his jaw began to tremble. His hands slowly raised up to touch his ears as his mind tried to process what the man said. His eyes clamped shut and he found himself falling to his knees, while he could feel an awkward sound coming from his throat. He then went forward so he was leaning on his palms and could see the tears dropping down on his hands. "Please... please let me wake up from this nightmare."

"Schwarz, take care of your nephew please."

"I'll have to knock him unconscious."

"Do so."

Toshiro felt a sudden pain at the side of his neck and then he blacked out. The next thing he knew he felt a cold rag placed on his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked at the man. His mouth didn't open, but the man spoke up. "How are you feeling little one?" The boy found himself frowning at the man. "It is all right to tell me what you think."

"Is it?" The boy closed his eyes. "This has to be a horrible nightmare."

He then opened them and pulled his arm away and saw that he was no longer dressed in his Shinigami robes. Instead he was dressed in a white outfit. He took a deep breath of frustration. "Who changed my clothes?"

"I did with the help of the head of the infirmary. We had to take care of your injuries. Why didn't you tell me that your had the kind of injuries you had."

"I've had worse."

"I see."

"How am I related to you and that man?"

"Your my brother's child."

"Can I have Hyorinmaru back?"

"So that you can run away from home like your father did?" The man reached out to brush Toshiro's hair away.

The boy swallowed. "I should have listened to Kyoraku. They're going to ask me to fight against my friends."

Hot tears suddenly came down his cheeks. "You're crying again, why?"

The boy's mouth opened and then closed. "This is a nightmare. I want to wake up."

"Toshiro, your here among friends and family."

"Why do I have to feel so helpless. First Kyoraku taicho says I'm not allowed to fight, and then I'm a prisoner of this place simply because of my birthright. How is this not a nightmare." The boy sat up. "I don't trust you. I don't trust any of you."

The man glanced away. "No, I guess you wouldn't. You're safe here, that's what matters." Toshiro gritted his teeth and clutched his hurting side. "Do you need some pain medicine?"

"I want to know what everyone here expects of me."

"Expects of you? We don't expect anything of you. We actually expect you to stay out of the major fighting when it comes. Your to important to us to lose."

"I'm all that you want, so if I stay you could send a message to Soul Society and they won't try attacking or getting me back. Then there won't be that war."

"It's not that simple."

"Don't talk to me as if I am a child."

A hand reached up and touched his head. "The thing is, you are a child."