It was hard to describe the small sub-taicho's behavior the next few days as they waited for word about the two taicho who were missing still. Those who didn't know him well assumed that he was just busy at work as he always was, diving head first into the paperwork that needed to be finished, and pushing himself to the limits when it came to training.

However, those around him who knew him somewhat well, for he had always kept most others at bay from his inner self, would go and easily say that something was seriously wrong with the young boy. His movements were tense and rigid and he was silent, not offering a comment unless he absolutely had to, where as he had been apt to comment on something before, quite randomly.

Also, there was some confusion in the mornings that Matsumoto only was privy about, as her quarters were near where his were. She heard his usual moving around on the roof the first night and thought nothing of it, however, in the morning she quickly realized otherwise, that something was going, and that Toshiro was moving frantically about.

She got up and looked out of the room, just in time to see the small fukutaicho staring into his taicho's room, in a bit of a shock, his body numb, and the door partially ajar. "Hitsugaya… taicho hasn't returned from the mission yet…"

The white haired boy suddenly turned his head to face her, his eyes wide with shock and worry, his mouth not moving, his mind trying to deal with what was going on in there. He then, just as quickly, shunpooed away from her. This worried her in some ways, so the next day, even though she liked sleeping in, made it a point to wake up earlier then she did.

She opened the doors that led between the two of their rooms, but couldn't find him there. Realization then dawned on her. "Of course… he's been sleeping above taicho's room at night… and Isshin-san isn't here to move him back…"

She then opened the front door and stepped out. This was just in time to see a very much panicked child jumping down from the roof, startled to be awake where he normally didn't find himself. For some odd reason, instinct made him go and open their taicho's door again. Matsumoto crept over and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Toshiro…"

This caused the young one to jump, showing more emotions then one normally saw from him. In fact, Matsumoto had the feeling that she was one of the few people who had ever seen him break from his normal composure. To her dismay, he quickly sped off, causing her great worry, about the fact that he hadn't spoke about this to anyone.

To everyone else, he seemed like his normal self, but Matsumoto couldn't help but note that he was in fact acting differently.

M

Hinamori Momo was one of the first to receive news of the return of the search party that had been sent out, and she hurried over to where her taicho was being brought through on a stretcher. She had an utter look of dismay due to his pain; however, she quickly noticed that someone was missing from the group… the captain of the tenth division.

"Taicho…" she started, however, the rescue party interrupted her, or tried too.

However, Aizen had other plans and grabbed Hinamori's hand. "You're wondering about the other taicho… he didn't make it… if he hadn't… I wouldn't be here."

The young female shingami then watched as her taicho passed out and the fourth division members of the rescue party carried him off. Her mind whirled at the meaning behind this, then something dawned on her, something that caused her chest to choke. "I don't want to…"

"But who's going to tell him, Momo-chan?" came the soft voice of her zanpaktou.

"But… I don't want to make him upset and angry at me… he is mad at me enough as it is," the girl frowned.

"He gets upset because of the way you treat him… treat him like he is an adult in this matter…" her zanpaktou hummed.

"Shiro-chan isn't an adult… how am I to tell him, I don't know how." However, something told her that she had to make sure that he knew about the news, and she hurried over to his division. When she arrived there, she found him busy digging through papers and such. Most of what he was doing was repetitive work, as everything else was finished.

"Shiro-chan?"

"I've told you before, its lieutenant Hitsugaya," the white haired boy muttered.

"I need to speak with you," the girl stated.

"Can it wait?" came Toshiro's reply. "I am trying to get things in order for when taicho comes back."

"About that…" Hinamori began to twiddle her fingers.

To her utter shock, Toshiro turned on her, a bit upset. "If you're going to try to push for me to get a transfer, Hinamori, think again. Now, leave… I have to finish this before he gets back."

"He isn't coming back Shiro-chan," came the suddenly reply from the older girl. This caused the boy to stop short. "Shiro-chan… I'm sorry… I…"

"I guess I have no choice…" came the sudden reply. "I'll just have to try for the captaincy exams when the position comes up…"

"Shiro-chan!" Momo became quite upset. "You can't!"

"I've been thinking about it since taicho disappeared Hinamori," Toshiro still couldn't look her in the face. "I know you don't believe that I have achieved Bankai, but I really have… honest… I didn't lie to you about that."

The older girl grabbed his shoulders from behind. "You'll make an embarrassment of yourself!"

"That doesn't matter… I have to do this for my division Hinamori… so things don't change around here," came the reply.

"Don't be… stu…" Momo had forcefully spun him around on his heals so that he was facing her. She saw something that she hadn't seen with him since he was young, at least not very often. Tears had welled up in his eyes. She reached up a hand to brush the tears away. "You don't have too… I am sure that the next taicho will be just as nice or nicer. And you'll always have me to take care of you, right?"

"Hinamori… as much as I appreciate your words… no one can replace taicho… and… you haven't been taking care of me for a very long time," the boy glanced at the ground. "Please leave…"

"Shiro-chan," tears began to well down her face.

"Please… I really don't want to have you see me cry, and I am really close to losing it…" he muttered.

Momo found her tears stopping, and she wiped away some of his again and headed to the door. She turned to him, a sad look on her face. "If you need anything, be sure to tell me… please."

"I'll think about it…" he muttered.

M

Aizen sat in the fourth division room, letting his illusion deceive everyone around him. He eventually saw Gin step into the room, also cloaked by his illusion, to which the man soon discovered. Aizen couldn't help but smirk at him. "It is good to see you Gin."

"Why is it that you did this?" Gin stated.

"You were going to betray me, weren't you?" Aizen stated firmly.

"Why would you say that?" came the fox faced man's reply.

"Tosen felt it was a good idea to follow you," came another firm reply.

"You know that I wouldn't put Matsumoto's life in danger, Aizen-sama," Gin frowned.

"Oh… well… if that was the case. You were becoming to close to that taicho, Gin. He was beginning to notice things. So… he had to go. I had planned on doing something like this, and your plans, whether they were to betray me or not, worked right into mine."

"I hate you…" the third division captain had a very child like pout on his face.

"It was for your own good Gin. You can be so fickle and indecisive at times, giving into those silly little urges of yours, you didn't realize the trouble you were working on getting yourself into," the man smiled.

"Really…" the other was rather confused.

"Yes… really… I also don't think he was a good influence on Hitsugaya-kun either, so I need to find someone who would be a good role model for him,"

"Are you thinking of a new taicho for the tenth," Gin was not happy about this. "You do know that Shiro-chan has achieved Bankai, and his instinct will make him want to try for the position."

"Gin… you knew about his learning Bankai… what Isshin told me was true?" the fifth division captain glared at his subordinate. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Shiro-chan is my opposite… he should stay that way," Gin muttered.

"You're smart Gin, but not that smart. You went and ruined the fun I might have had… the good I could have done for him," Aizen smirked.

"The good you've done me would not do him any good, it would break him," came Gin's reply.

"Are you going to support him if he becomes taicho?" Aizen narrowed his eyes.

"Are you going to stop me?" Gin began to leave the room.

"It isn't as if he would get the needed support to become captain," Aizen sighed. "He is a child after all… too young… way younger then any taicho we've had before. Don't kid me. Go ahead with your little game and have your fun. You'll find your whim doesn't pan out."

M

Matsumoto had been looking all over for the small sub-taicho, but was frustrated when she couldn't find him. Old man thunder approached her, and nodded towards the offices. "Did you bother checking there?"

"I… he tends to hide when he's upset…" Matsumoto stated, going quickly towards he doors and opening them. To her delight, she found the small fukutaicho sitting at his captain's desk. However, all cheer left her face when she saw the tear streaks on his cheeks. "Hitsugaya, sir… I take it that someone has told you the news?"

"Hai… sorry to be a bother to you Matsumoto," Toshiro stated, glancing up and trying to wipe away his sticky cheeks. "I probably look like a fool."

"I say not," old man thunder laughed. "I take it that you have been thinking about certain things?"

"I am going to take the captaincy test…" Toshiro stated rather calmly.

Matsumoto, first off, didn't like the level of calmness in his tone. She then went over and put her face right into his. "You can't… what do you think you are doing. Do you think you're actually ready for such a position?"

"No… but I have achieved Bankai… so maybe it will work out," Toshiro stated.

"What are you thinking, if you don't think you're ready for such a position!?" Matsumoto was livid. "You'll hurt the division if you do that?"

"Wait and hear out his reason Matsumoto," old man thunder spoke up, a smile on his wizened face.

"My reason… it might sound funny… but," Toshiro let out a deep breath. "I don't want to hurt the division by having a new taicho come in and change things around. I don't know how good I'll be… or how much like Isshin-san, I will be able to be like… I mean, I know I am a major stick in the mud compared to him, but… I knew something was going to happen to him."

"He knew you were going to do this…" Matsumoto blinked a couple of times. "He knew too, didn't he?"

"Likely… how did you know, Matsumoto?" Toshiro became slightly confused.

"Before he left, he asked me, if something were to happen to him, would I take the lieutenants' test. I laughed it off saying that nothing would happen and I didn't want to take your position, so…" Matsumoto smiled, half heartedly. "I guess we're in this together."

"Plus me… always me. I'll never transfer divisions, never retire," old man thunder smiled. "And I promise, not a word of this to the division members. Some won't take well to the idea of a child taicho, and they might try to put a stop to this."

"Arigoto," Matsumoto stated, suddenly hugging Toshiro to her chest, much to his dismay and old man thunders humor.

Author's note – I never came up with a name for old man thunder beyond… old man thunder. I rather like it for him, what can I say. Getting closer and closer to the end… may or may not top a hundred thousand words, but I may very well do so…