Chapter 10

 

All eyes were on my brother and me as we stared at each other. I couldn’t believe Toshiro wanted to throw himself into this battle… to protect me. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. I was supposed to protect him, not the other way around. The older sibling was supposed to take care of the younger one. I took on that responsibility the day Toshiro was born, even more so when our parents died. It was my duty.

 

“Mina-chan, I want to do this,” Toshiro said. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.

 

“No. Absolutely not. I’m not going to let you do this,” I answered sternly.

 

“I have to.”

 

“Toshiro Kitamura, I don’t want to hear it!”

 

“Minako,” Ichigo said, snapping my gaze away from my brother, “none of us are going to let your brother be harmed.

 

“How can I be sure?! How do I know nothing will happen?!”

 

“I have two younger sisters that I’ve been protecting from Hollow for ten years. I’ll never let anything hurt them and you have my word that nothing will hurt Toshiro.”

 

Tears clouded my vision. I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to agree and risk endangering my brother, or leave and risk putting him in even more danger? It was down to choosing the lesser of two evils, and I hated it. I slowly shook my head again.

 

“I can’t allow Toshiro to do this.”

 

“He doesn’t have to fight, but at least let him learn how to defend himself,” Orihime encouraged. I looked at her and could see in her eyes that she wasn’t a fighter, yet she was still part of this team. What did she do, exactly? Could Toshiro learn? Could he avoid all the fighting entirely?

 

“How do I know he won’t get involved?”

 

“We can call in backup,” Kisuke answered. “Believe it or not, protecting your brother will probably be top priority to the Soul Society.” My brows furrowed in confusion.

 

“Why’s that?” I asked.

 

“Oh, there are a few reasons. I can’t think of any off the top of my head at this moment, though. I promise, you and your brother will be in capable hands.” I slowly nodded, a bit reluctant. I didn’t want Toshiro to be harmed, and this was the best way to make sure of that.

 

“Alright,” I whispered.”

 

“Good to hear. I already have two people in mind who will make the perfect bodyguards for you and Toshiro. You’ll see them in a couple days. Until then, do you have anymore questions?”

 

“When can you start teaching me?”

________________________________________________________________________

 

Rangiku Matsumoto sighed heavily and shook her cramping hand. Since taking the position of captain for Division Ten, she now had even more paperwork and no one to put it off on. She adjusted the haori she wore, but stopped mid-tug. It’d been ten years since Captain Hitsugaya’s death, but she could still clearly remember a time when he wore the white haori. The image of the late captain’s death would still play vividly in her might. Every sight, every sound, her pained scream as he fell; they were all there.

 

“Captain,” Rangiku murmured as she stared at the wall to her right.

 

There, Hyorinmaru had been mounted in memory of Captain Hitsugaya. Rangiku’s eyes fell as a wave of grief washed over her. God, she needed a drink. She reached into the drawer of her desk – not that she ever truly though it was hers – and grabbed the bottle of sake she kept stashed there. Just as she was opening the bottle, the office door burst open, revealing Renji Abarai. Rangiku managed to hold back a scream, but that didn’t stop her from jumping, or stop the sake from flying across the room.

 

“Rangiku, you’re not going to believe this!” Renji yelled, running up to the desk. The Tenth Division captain frowned at him.

 

“Renji, don’t scare me like that! I almost popped right out of my kimono! What’s so important that you had to barge in like that?!” she demanded.

 

“They found him.”

 

“Found who? What are you talking about?”

 

“Ichigo and his friends; they found Captain Hitsugaya,” Renji answered, his voice now lower than before.

 

“What?!”

 

“Shh! Keep it down. I’m only supposed to tell you and Rukia.” For a moment, Rangiku allowed her hopes to be risen by the news. Then she remembered what she’d seen. There was no denying what had happened. She sighed once more.

 

“Don’t be stupid, Renji,” she said solemnly. “He died ten years ago. Even if he was already reincarnated in the Living World, there’d be no chance of finding him again. He’d just be a normal human boy.”

 

“Urahara said that he’s positive this kid is Captain Hitsugaya and that he’s not a normal kid.”

 

“What if it really is him, Renji? What are you going to do?”

 

“Rukia and I are being called in to keep an eye on him and his sister.”

 

“Sister?” Rangiku shook her head with a light chuckle. “I forgot he’s not going to be the same person we’ve known.”

 

“I doubt he’ll be too different. Come see him when you can. Rukia and I will be leaving soon.”

 

“Don’t let anything happen to him,” Rangiku warned.

 

“I won’t,” Renji answered as he left the room. Once the door was closed, Rangiku turned to the zanpakuto on the wall and ran her fingers along the sheath. She’d allow herself to hope, just one last time.