Chapter 15

Toshiro’s eyes darted around the white room he was in. He’d been taken from his school by a huge, muscular man whose jaw bone was outside his skin. Nobody in his class had seen the man, but they’d seen the wall cave in when he came. Miss Kiyoshi had ushered the students out of the room in such a rush, she hadn’t noticed Toshiro slipping away with Rukia. The Soul Reaper had tried to bring him away from the man – the Arrancar, as Rukia called him – but they were quickly found. Rukia had pushed Toshiro away, brandishing her sword, her zanpakuto. She’d tried to defend Toshiro, fighting with all her strength. It was all in vain.

 

She’d been killed.

 

Tears blurred Toshiro’s vision as he thought of Rukia’s mangled body on the floor of his classroom. She’d been sliced open, bleeding profusely. There was no way she could have survived. Toshiro shook his head violently, silently crying. He’d become so used to having Rukia around. Now, she’d died because of him and he could do nothing to stop it. The Arrancar had shrugged off Toshiro’s ice-based attacks as though they were nothing.

 

“It’s not fair,” he whispered, his voice breaking from the tears.

 

Toshiro had been given know clothes to wear, though he hated them with every part of his being. They were similar to what the Soul Reapers wore, but the shirt wasn’t as loose or traditional. The clothes were completely white and he’d been given a pair of sandals to wear. His normal clothes had been taken away from him. A light knocked came to the door and the visitor entered without a word from Toshiro.

 

“Hey, don’t be so sad, kid. It’s not that bad yet,” the man said. Toshiro turned around to see the tall, thin man who had entered the room. He had short white hair, eyes that were always squinted closed and a constant smile that scared Toshiro. For reasons he couldn’t explain, the boy felt as though he knew this man.

 

“Go away!”

 

“Now, is that any way to speak to your elder?” The man continued to approach as Toshiro began trembling, suddenly fearing for his life.

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“Toshiro! Toshiro, where are you?” I called, cupping my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice. Toshiro had run off to play on his own, disappearing into the park. I’d lost sight of him and quickly became panicked. “Toshiro!”

 

“Mina-chan!” a little voice yelled and I turned to see my younger brother duck behind a large, industrial plastic dome that was painted orange with purple spots. I ran after him and grabbed his shoulder, dropping to my knees in front of him.

 

“Toshiro Kitamura, what were you thinking?”

 

“I was playing with Kagami.” My hands dropped from his shoulders to my lap and I stared directly into his beautiful teal eyes.

 

“You scared me, Shiro-chan. I though I lost you,” I whispered. Toshiro wrapped his arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.

 

“You’ll never really lose me, Nee-chan.”

 

That was only two years before, when Toshiro was eight years old. He’d always been and adventurous little boy, giving me a heart attack at every turn, but nothing like this. Toshiro had never been in any real danger, save for the possibility of spraining something. Now, I’d lost him to a group of psychotic rebel Soul Reapers. I would get him back and nothing was going to stop me.

 

“Minako?” Ichigo asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

 

“Huh?” I murmured, barely paying attention.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“My brother’s been kidnapped and is being put through – God only knows what. Do I look like I’m okay, Ichigo?”

 

“You know we’ll get him back,” Renji answered firmly. He was using that tone of voice to sound confident, so I would be comforted.

 

“Do you plan to bring him back dead or alive?! You’re all just sitting here!”

 

“We have to wait for the Reishihenkanki to be prepared. That’ll take a week,” Uryuu explained.

 

“A week?!” I exclaimed.

 

“I’m sorry, Minako. It’s my fault,” Rukia said weakly, trying to push herself into a sitting position. Orihime had recently healed her, but the Soul Reaper was still greatly weakened. I placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to remain lying down.

 

“Don’t, Rukia. It’s not your fault. Uryuu was right; it’s not anyone’s fault. Is there… any way to get there sooner?”

 

“If we had known what Aizen was planning ahead of time, I could have prepared the gate sooner. Where we are now, it’ll take a week,” Kisuke answered.

 

“What about Toshiro? What if we’re too late to save him?”

 

“We won’t be,” Ichigo answered.

 

The sureness in his eyes made it hard for me to doubt him. I began to believe we could get my brother back. Only minutes later, there was a knock at the door to the back room. I glanced around in confusion. The only one missing from the group was Chad, and Uryuu had said he was busy at work, as a mechanic. The door opened and I saw a woman who didn’t appear to be much older than me, maybe in her late twenties. She had long, wavy hair that was the same color as Orihime and Ichigo’s. Her eyes were blue and she was truly a beautiful woman. She was, however, very well-endowed and her bust appeared too large for her pale green blouse and yellow sweater. The woman was wearing a white skirt and sandals to complete her outfit.

 

“Rangiku?!” Renji exclaimed, clearly surprised. “What’re you doing here?”

 

“I’m here to visit the captain. I finally found some time to come,” the woman answered with a smile. She then looked down at me before taking my hand and shaking it. “And you must be the captain’s older sister. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

“Who are-” I started.

 

“He’s not here,” Renji interrupted, causing the woman, Rangiku, to stop smiling and look his way.

 

“What do you mean, Renji?” she asked sharply.

 

“He’s been captured by Aizen.”