After Aizen's division, Toshiro found himself once a week going and helping other divisions with small tasks through none where he ended up passing out due to heat exhaustion. However, he was seriously wandering how the division ran itself, his was lucky to have Tomo as lieutenant.

The first week he had gone to help Kuchiki Byakuya, the captain of sixth catch up on the small among of paperwork that had accumulated due to not having a lieutenant to help. The man however spent a good hour and a half staring at Toshiro. He then got called away due to a matter dealing with his younger sister and he reluctantly handed the paper work to the young shingami.

He then found that the paperwork that needed to be recopied had been scribbled on with some sort of colored wax substance he was unfamiliar with. This scribbling probably explained why the sixth division captain had given him such an awkward look though. Also, it wasn't until later that he found out that it wasn't Kuchiki Rukia who had done the scribblings either.

The stay at the forth division was uneventful, other then meeting a very awkward young shingami who managed to be fooled by everything. Toshiro figured that most people would wonder how the boy had gotten the rank he had, but the white haired shingami thought Unohana to be extremely bright, so there was a likely reason for him having a seated position.

Third week, he was stuck watching the lieutenant of the eight division, who had been at his graduation, beat up her captain. This clarified that Isshin wasn't the only captain who had his subordinates beat up on him for doing dumb things. However, Toshiro had to say that he was shocked that the reason was that the captain had offered a minor sake; then again, the man was drunk.

However, as of the forth week, Toshiro confirmed that there was a division crazier then his own, not including the notorious eleventh. Somehow, the paperwork, to both Isshin and General Yamamoto's later ire, passed by all proper channels straight into Toshiro's hands. After he had found that a certain captain wanted to experiment on him, he decided it was best to get the notes looked over by his taicho, even if the order came from a captain.

Toshiro didn't know what the punishment that captain received, however a few of the other tenth division members had made the mistake of talking about some of the rumors about the twelfth division as soon as he got back, causing him to have some problems getting to sleep at night, who wouldn't with such rumors. The one good thing was, the being sent off to the other divisions ended up stopping.

However, he continued to wander due to the bad habit and a few other things including nightmares. That was how he happened to pass Matsumoto's door one night, to find it ajar, little light going in as it was moonless. A small bit of worry spread over his features, as she usually kept it closed, possibly so she would have no peeping toms. "Matsumoto-san? Rangiku?"

At first, his mind told him not to invade her privacy, however, something was bothering him, so he stepped into the room and crept forward. His foot touched the futon, and he reached down and touched where he thought the third seats shoulder should be.

The next thing he knew was that someone had grabbed his arm and flipped him over them, nearly wrenching his shoulder socket out of place. The person propped themselves up on one elbow and had maneuvered both of their hands around his neck, squeezing as they did so. Toshiro's hands reached up to grab the bony ones.

He swore he could sense the person's eyes opening wider. Whatever the case, he felt the grip on his neck lessen and the person suddenly speak up, perhaps some concern in their voice. "Shiro-chan?"

"Gin… what's going on," came Rangiku's voice.

Toshiro's cheeks turned a little bit pink, however, he found room to voice something, or more to chook it out. "It's Hitsugaya."

"Toshiro?" Rangiku was suddenly fully awake, confusion, irritation and worry in her voice.

"We were trying to sleep," Gin sighed as Toshiro rolled over so he wouldn't be on the side that the arm hurt.

"Rangiku… what is Captain Ichimaru doing in your room? The white boy suddenly asked.

Matsumoto choose to suddenly grab his ear in her hand. "What I would like to know is what you are doing in my room?"

"The door was ajar, so I…" Toshiro paused. "Hitsugaya…"

However, Gin quickly covered his mouth. "He was worried Ran-chan."

"Toshiro… do you have a habit of saying your name whenever you feel forced or uncomfortable with expressing your feelings?"

"Hit…" Toshiro started, then paused for a few seconds. "I don't usually have to express my feelings. There is no reason to. Doing it that way feels… less personal."

Matsumoto then took the time to sit up. "Say, I was worried about Ran-chan."

Toshiro made a face at this. "I was worried about third seat Matsumoto because the door was ajar."

"Well, at least that's a little more impersonal," Rangiku flopped down on the futon, staring at the ceiling.

"So… can I go now?" Toshiro suddenly asked, the discomfort in his voice.

"Children should be in bed this late at night," Gin muttered groggily, suddenly wrapping his arms around Toshiro. "Children shouldn't be out wandering about.

"Matsumoto," Toshiro hissed, realizing he suddenly couldn't get lose, as the man was hugging him like he was a teddy bear, and on top of this, he was completely uncomfortable with being with the two.

"Sorry sweetie, but when Gin falls asleep, you can't get him to move," the woman chuckled.

"Great…" Toshiro muttered, completely irritated now.

"But you had another nightmare, didn't you?" Matsumoto suddenly asked.

"I haven't been having nightmares… I just can't sleep." Toshiro lied.

"Ahh… well that's why Gin comes here, he sleeps better some times," the woman sighed.

"I thought…" came the boys stammer.

"You though… oh," A smile spread over Matsumoto's face as she brushed some of the hair away. "You are an interesting child, you know that? Don't you think Gin and I would have had less clothes on if that was the case?"

This caused Toshiro's face to suddenly turn red. Matsumoto either didn't notice, or she pretended not to care. Instead, she began to hum a tune, causing his eyelids to droop.

M

The next morning in the office, Isshin and Atsuo found Toshiro sitting on Matsumoto's desk, his right sleeve pulled up so that his shoulder was bare. A bandage was wrapped around it, applied by Matsumoto. The woman was applying makeup to his neck where bruises were showing. "Hold still!"

"Do you think I want to!" the boy muttered, slightly embarrassed, though he wasn't going to admit this was the case.

"What's going on here? A makeup party?" Isshin suddenly smiled at them. "Can I join? Papa's really good at clown makeup!"

Both Matsumoto and Toshiro's heads suddenly darted around to give the two men looks of utter shock. Atsuo shook his head. "Really you two, what is going on?"

"Nothing!" both had the most unbelievable looks of guilt. Then Toshiro sighed and spoke up. "I was training this morning, and I succeeded in overstressing myself."

Atsuo walked over and touched the young boy's neck. "This injury, I don't think is possible from training Toshiro. Now, what happened?"

"Snakes are dangerous to play with," the boy narrowed his teal eyes at the man, an odd darkness coming over them, then the boy hopped down of the desk and hurried out of the room.

"Hold on… snake? What did you mean by that?" Matsumoto went to follow, but Isshin grabbed her arm.

"Ran-chan, was Gin here last night?" the man asked.

"Uhh… yes," Matsumoto gave him a shocked look, then hurried after Toshiro as Isshin let go of her arm.

"Gin… Gin did that to the boy?" Atsuo shook his head, bitterness in his voice. "When he went into the academy…"

"Aizen had less of a hold on him," the man stated. "We never did believe that the former third seat of the fifth division actually went missing, remember."

"Yes, but I assumed that Aizen killed him," the man stated.

"For Gin to have gained the trust of Aizen, it had to have been Gin," Isshin sighed.

"No… we trust him with Matsumoto… he wouldn't…" the man protested.

"Think of it this way, Aizen has such a grip on Gin, all he has to do is threaten Matsumoto and Gin will do what the man wants. And there are other things I would rather not discuss," Isshin shook his head. "If I had proof, I would take this before the forty-six, however, I do not.

"But Gin…" Atsuo had a sad look on his face.

"I know…" Isshin sighed. "Gin is still a child, and defiantly only sees things in black and white, but what is black for him, might be white for us, and what is white for us might be black."

"Why didn't you tell me?" the man closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Because, it isn't because I didn't think I could trust you, but I couldn't give you information that might affect your relationship with Gin, maybe even Matsumoto. And I think Gin has a liking for Toshiro," Isshin suddenly stated, going to go and get the paperwork for the day ready.