Liking Oneself II: Thank You (Bleach Fanfic)

Home Stay (Part IV) You Were Bullied

No one was in a good mood as they proceeded on their way to the small house where Toshiro and Momo's granny lived. Renji ground his teeth as he carried the grumpy child taicho on his back. The boy had insisted that the haori be placed into Kira's medical bag, causing a worried expression to cover his as well as Momo's face.

The two choose to walk ahead of the other two, the silence allowing the nature around them to be heard. The female fukutaicho walked with her arms folded across her chest. Finally she spoke up. "I honestly don't know why Shiro-chan is acting the way he is."

"Don't worry about it. It's likely because of the medicine he's under." The blond stopped short upon seeing two young adults come out from a house near by the one they were heading towards.

Momo's face suddenly brightened and she waved her hand at the two. "Tec-chan! Ac-chan!" Kira's mouth turned up upon seeing the two figures and watched how they at first reacted in a rather sociable manner, but froze suddenly. The small female introduced the two. 'This is Tatsukichi and Ayumi. They're childhood friends of Shiro-chan and mine."

Kira watched as the two suddenly flinched when Momo said Shiro-chan. Glancing back, he found himself able to trace their gaze back to Renji and the small taicho. To his surprise Toshiro was peeking around the red haired shinigami, almost as if he were trying to hide from the supposed friends. The blond shinigami felt himself take a deep breath before making a quick bow.

"It's a nice to meet you. I'm Kira Izuru, fukutaicho of the third division and this is Abarai Renji, fukutaicho of the sixth division."

Renji moved up, his eyes narrowing at the two almost as if something about the way they were acting bothered him. The two took an apprehensive step backwards. Momo noticed the reaction and waved her hands. "Don't mind Abarai. He's actually very nice despite the tattoos."

The two glanced at each other. Ayumi was the first to speak up. "Momo-chan's so amazing getting a fukutaicho position like she did."

Tatsukichi however couldn't stop looking at Toshiro, and finally his Adam's apple bobbed down. "When did your little brother become a shinigami, or is he just borrowing shinigami robes for some reason?"

Kira's eyes went wide while Momo's jaw dropped. The small female glanced back at Toshiro, her eyes asking what she should say.

"What do you mean by that? Hitsugaya is a..." Renji found his mouth suddenly covered by two small hands, preventing him from speaking further.

Tatsukichi backed up slightly, his eyes still on Toshiro. "We need to get going. Our mother wished for us to run an errand."

Ayumi balked a bit, before turning after the boy. "Ahh... yes... the errand."

The two then hurried off. Toshiro released his grip on Renji's mouth and the red headed shinigami headed straight into the old woman's house. "What the hell was that all about!"

"Abarai!" The small taicho's voice strained. "Don't go barging into grannies house. At least announce your presence before you enter."

The sixth division fukutaicho turned his head to see a little old lady sitting there smiling at him. "I'm sorry."

"No. It's all right. Toshiro, you're over reacting."

Kira came into the room and bowed his head at the old woman. "I'm Kira Izuru. We brought Hitsugaya Taicho home to visit as he's had an injury and Unohana Taicho's told him he needs a vacation."

"I see. Toshiro's told me a lot about you two." The woman stood up. "Momo-chan, will you help me get some water for our guests."

The old lady shuffled out of the room, followed by the small female shinigami. Kira walked over to Renji and helped the small taicho to the ground. The red haired shinigami turned then to speak to the boy. "All right, what was..."

Kira interrupted the other fukutaicho. "Why did your granny say she's heard a lot about us from you? Shouldn't she have heard about us from Momo?"

Toshiro's bright teal eyes glanced away. "There's only ever been one thing Hinamori's talked about when she's come home."

"Aizen..." Renji took a deep breath. "What is up with you not wanting anyone around here to know that your a shinigami, let alone a captain? Wouldn't they be proud of you as well?"

"Proud..." The corner of Toshiro's mouth twisted up. "Don't make me laugh."

The red headed shinigami reached out and grabbed the boy's hair. "I don't care that your a taicho, what..."

"Renji!"

The red headed shinigami glanced up, realizing that the old lady and the granny had returned. The old woman went and sat back down. Kira folded his arms across his chest. "Hinamori. Why didn't you bring up the fact Hitsugaya is a taicho?"

"Shiro-chan..." Momo glanced at the ground.

The old woman spoke up. "Made us promise not to tell anyone he was a shinigami, let alone a taicho."

Kira paused, his eyes darting to Renji. He then took a deep breath. "I have to get some supplies. Will you help me."

"Um... sure." The small female followed the blond out of the house.

The red haired shinigami let out a deep sigh as he let go of Toshiro's hair. "What the hell is going on. I asked you before. Wouldn't your village be happy to know one of their own became a captain."

The boy's head suddenly darted down so he was looking at his lap and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "That is under the assumption they ever considered me one of their own in the first place."

Renji leaned back, frowning as he did so. "Shouldn't we have heard about you being ostracized by your own village. I mean, surely Momo would know about the way you were treated."

"Not if they didn't say anything around her. You heard how those two called me her brother in front of her? Well, it's different when she's not around."

"What do they say?" The red haired shinigami shook his head.

"That I have no right to call her my sister."

Renji narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Hitsugaya Taicho, how bad is the bullying?"

Toshiro's head shot up. "I wasn't bullied!"

"Yes you were."

"Bulling involves physical harm."

"So there wasn't one time that it escalated to physical harm?"

"Their..." Toshiro paused, his eyes glazing over. "What do you mean by escalated? If it isn't physical, it isn't bullying."

"Stop lying to yourself. Calling you names, ignoring you. That's all bullying. How bad was it?"

The boy swallowed, before glancing away. "I'm a non-entity here. People want to interact with me as little as possible. There was no physical abuse though."

"Was there no physical abuse, or did you just forget?" Renji snapped the words out, watching the boy suddenly flinch. He then turned his head towards the old woman. The worried look on her face caused him to take a deep breath. He turned back and smiled at Toshiro. "Never mind. Don't you think telling them that your a captain would change their opinion of you?"

The boy glanced again at the ground. "And what... have them worship the ground I walk upon, but not care about who I am as a person. In case you haven't noticed, I hate my powers. The only good thing about them is Hyorinmaru. He's always been there."