Innocent *Toshiro Hitsugaya Love Story*

Chapter 25: The Note

Toshiro's POV

            I sighed. Now's she's upset. Debating over whether or not to go after her, I decided to give her some space. She would respect that. I slowly walked back to my room and blew out the candle just before I lied down for bed. After hours upon hours of continuous staring, I remained awake.

            Her screaming...

            Her anger...

            Her desperation...

            Her sadness...

            Nothing has ever pained me more. It shocked me that she could be so upset with me at first, but who wouldn't be? I should've sent out a group of Soul Reapers to search for her kidnapped sister. I should've protected her from any confrontation with Junko to prevent her from learning about her past. I shouldn't of been so brash to her, either. Looking at my clock, it read 7:06. I need to be awake in twenty-four minutes. After only a few minutes of debating, I decided to just get up and get ready.

            After taking a quick shower and brushing my teeth, I fixed my hair and dressed in my Shihaksho. I flash stepped to my office to arrive a half hour early. Rangiku strolled in just a few minutes before eight. With a yawn, she greeted me.

            "Hey, Captain," she groaned. She fell into the seat at her desk and glanced in my direction. Her shoulders fell as she sighed. "Captain, didn't I tell you to stop pulling the all-nighters? It's going to do a number on you." I raised an eyebrow.

            "What are you talking about?" I questioned. Her eyes fell closed for a moment.

            "You have bags under your eyes," she mumbled. She reopened her eyes. "If you stay up too late one night, you may not perform well the next day if we have an assignment."

            "I don't have bags under my eyes," I stated. She nodded and tossed a small mirror in my direction. I checked, and, sure enough, I had deep, sinking pits under my pupils. Sighing, I let my head fall into my hands. "Damn," I muttered. I threw the mirror back to her and it landed on her desk with a thud.

            "Why did you stay up so late anyway? It's not like we were overloaded with paperwork again," she spoke.

            "I wasn't working on any paperwork, Rangiku," I muttered. She stood and walked over to my desk.

            "Then what were you doing up? You're not the partying type... Or are you?" she teased with a small smirk. I straightened my back and rolled my eyes.

            "I just couldn't fall asleep last night," I stated as I started to stand. "Come on. We need to get some breakfast." She followed me into the cafeteria and sat in front of me. We slowly ate in quiet for a few minutes until 3rd Seat Hyata and 4th Seat Ryusaki sat beside us. They both seemed on edge from something.

            "So, did anything happen between you two last night?" Rangiku questioned with a slight teasing tone to her voice. Ryusaki flushed slightly and Hyata rolled his eyes while laughing.

            "I don't think it's any of your business, Rangiku," he stated. Rangiku pouted.

            "Hey, um... Do any of you guys know where Aika is? She wasn't in her room in Squad 4 when we woke up," Ryusaki questioned while the blush faded from her cheeks.

            "She woke up late last night and came back to Squad 10. She should still be in her room," I spoke.

            "Aika's not the type to sleep in. After breakfast, do you guys want to come to check up on her? She could be sick," Rangiku suggested. Hyata and Ryusaki nodded. They had a point. Aika, even if she was upset and angry, she would still show up to work. I excused myself, leaving my untouched breakfast on the table and hurried to Aika's room. After knocking twice with no answer, I walked in.

            "Aika?" I called, my voice wavering slightly. Glancing around the entire room, I didn't see her. I walked toward her bathroom to see if she was in there, but the door was ajar and the room was empty. I opened her closet to only see many Shihakosho. Her bed was made, as if it wasn't touched all night. The only difference was a small folded piece of paper that lay on the pillow. Quickly snatching it up, I unfolded it and read it.

Dear Captain Hitsugaya,

            I'm sorry to inform you of this, Sir, but I am going to save my sister, Miki from Katsuo's grasp. Usually, I would obey you, but on this order, I will do nothing of the sorts. At the moment when you are reading this, I would think that I'm right to assume that it is morning, just a little after eight because that is the time everyone is suppose to wake up and report for work. So, I left roughly four hours ago. By now, I will have most likely located my sisters, Chou and Yoshie, explained what I would be doing, and left for Katsuo's home. I'm not exactly sure where he might be living, so I decided to check at the Kuroda residence and go on my search after I left there. I know he's not in the Soul Society, because, how asinine of him would that be? So, if you wish to, you may follow me, but I could care less anyway. I will deal with whatever punishment you have for me when I return. It will be worth the safety of my family. So, goodbye for now, Captain Hitsugaya.

                        - 5th Seat, Aika Mori

             ...Damn...

(A/N) Yay! I'm on time for once! :--D I'm very hyper at the moment. I had a lot of food earlier because I just came back from a swim team party thing. They gave me brownies and pie.