Lost Child (Bleach Fanfic)

Different Norm

Hanataro followed Isane back from the academy, his mouth twisting up. "Perhaps I should think about going through the academy."

"It's not as if there are many Shinigami around your age though."

The young male frowned. "I've tried talking to people my age to see if they wanted to become a Shinigami."

"How did that go?"

"I got a black eye."

Isane remained silent as they walked along. "There is a little boy in the forth division who is a little bit younger then you."

"I heard about him." Silence fell between the two as they continued to walk. Hantaro spoke again. "I thought males couldn't go near him."

"Unohana thinks that it's adult males that he can't stand to be around. He actually interacted very well with the head captain when he came to visit. It was actually kind of cute."

A frown spread across Hanataro's face. "Isane... I thought you said that he was just a little younger then me?"

"He..." It was the tall fukutaicho's turn to frown. "He's not talked since he was brought in, but according to his little sister he in fact did talk before he was beaten up by those adult men. Unohana thinks that if you could interact with him it would do him some good.'

"I think I would rather have a friend my actual age." The boy looked at the ground.

"Well... his sister is around your age I think."

"You said it was his little sister." The boy looked at her then pointed his finger. "Wait! You called her his little sister because she's smaller then you!"

"Nothing of the sort." Isane's cheeks blushed.

"So... when do I meet the kid."

"You'll have to ask Unohana."

Silence again fell over the two and the young Shinigami headed to where he knew the taicho would be. "Unohana Taicho?"

"Ah... you're back ninth seat Yamada Hanataro. Did you have fun?"

"Yes mam. Isane told me that you wished for me to meet the little boy we have in the forth division."

"Ah... yes. Hitsugaya Toshiro is his name. Meeting the child will have to be postponed as he is ill right now, but in a few days I hope to take you to meet him.

M

"I expect he's this bouncy little kid who also enjoys gross things like most little kids... particularly males... like." The boy took a deep breath as he followed Unohana through the division to the room. As they came to the door he found himself blinking a couple of times upon seeing Miyako sitting there reading a book.

The next thing he saw was a child with stark white hair looking up at the ceiling, a teddy bear held high in the air. The child twitched the bear slightly so that it looked like it was moving it's arms and legs on its own. On top of this the boy didn't seem to notice that someone had entered the room which caused Hanataro to look at the wall.

A rather large dragon was on the wall and he found himself speaking then. "Did he paint that? That is amazing!" He hurried over to the wall, ignoring everything in the room and began to carefully examine the detail. "You know... for a little kid..." He moved slightly to the side, bumping into something. Looking down he saw that the boy had moved from the bed to the ground near him, a smile spread across his face. "This is pretty good."

He then found himself going into a similar position as the child and simply staring at the painting and enjoying it, his knees tucked up to his chest. He could hear his zampaktuo speak in the back of his head. "He's nice."

"Yes. He is."

"I bet his zampaktuo is nice despite being large and scary like that."

"What do you mean?"

"That thing on the wall is a zampaktuo spirit."

"Ah... he's pretty amazing." Hanataro's hand reached out to gently ruffle the boy's hair. "Yes... this really is amazing. I think the hip word for this would be 'cool man, cool'." Looking over he saw that the boy gave him a strange look. "Ahh... how to explain that one."

Hanataro then turned to the boy and began to explain about customs and cultures from the world of the living. After ranting for a good period of time he stopped short. "Um... do you understand what the difference between the world of the living and Soul Society is?" Upon receiving no answer he proceeded to explain that as well.

Despite flopping over onto his back to watch him, the boy continued to stare at the other boy and listen to everything he had to say. "You know... this is kind of cool. Having someone to talk to. I know he may not understand what I'm saying, but I certainly enjoy the fact he's not judging me."

The boy stopped short, a sudden realization hitting him. "You... you were judged by other people, weren't you? I kind of know how that feels. Nobody wants to be my friend because I'm already a Shinigami. Some older men tried to beat you up. But you know what?" Hanataro held up his finger.

"There are a lot of people out there who like to hurt others, but there are a lot of other people out there who like to protect others. I like the idea of protecting people, though I'm not good at it. Part of it comes from the fact I don't like hurting people either."

"Yamada..." Hanataro turned his head to see that the blond haired third seat stick his head in. The sound of feet scurrying under the bed caused him to turn his head and frown at the other man. "You know... you're not supposed to be here."

"I don't understand why you're allowed to be here."

"Because Hanataro is not an adult male." Miyako let out a sigh. "Feel free to come back any time Hana-chan."

M

He found himself heading to the library to pick up some information books that other division members needed when an idea struck him. Walking over to the children's section the small division member pulled out a book he remembered his brother reading him when he was little. He then added it to the stack of books and headed to the counter and checked them all out.

Upon arriving at the division the other members hurried over and took their books away. The small Shinigami then headed back to the small room where the boy was lying on his stomach playing with a bear. Miyako stood up. "Why don't I leave the two of you alone."

This caused the boy to look up, a bit of panic in his face. Hanataro held out the book. "I brought a book to read to you." The boy blinked a couple of times as the boy's eyes widened. "Do you like books?" Slipping over to the bed he climbed in and watched as the boy suddenly latched to is side waiting for him to open the book. Taking a deep breath Hanataro started. "Once upon a time...'

He continued to read until Miyako's voice was heard. "You actually got him to touch you?"

"Toshiro-kun really likes books and being read too." Hanataro felt a smile spread across his face. "I also really like him. I honestly don't understand how anyone could beat him up. He's a very nice kid."

"And very smart." His zampaktuo piped up despite the fact he honestly didn't know why.