Christmas Nightmare (Bleach Fanfic)

Broken

"I hate you. I hate the both of you." As Toshiro said these words, he couldn't help but note the shocked look on Rangiku's face, not to mention the high level of pain in her eyes. As he saw this look, he felt his stomach churning, knotting up due to the fact that he knew he didn't like that look. That said, he couldn't put his finger on why.

Stepping away from her, his mind focused on the fact that he wanted to get away from everyone. No matter which way he thought about the problem, it simply hurt. His hands went into his pockets and he focused on keeping his reiatsu in so that woman wouldn't be able to find him. The last thing he wanted was to talk to her before Gin told her the truth.

Thinking carefully, he wondered if there was a place that Rangiku wouldn't be able to find him. Karakura Town was much smaller then the main area of Soul Society. She was the one person who had the knack of finding him though, when he tried to get away from everyone and everything. Somehow, she just knew. The dragon hummed in his mind. "Perhaps this has to do with the fact that she is your mother?"

"You know that I don't want to hear it." The small taicho snapped his words out mentally. "I don't need any form of lecture from you. You haven't helped one bit in this situation, Hyorinmaru If you have any bright ideas on how to deal with those two idiots, then so be it. Until you give me a good idea of how to handle the situation, shut up."

"I personally understand lashing out at Matsumoto Rangiku on this issue, but why are you also lashing out at your father?" The dragon sidled the words in. "Is it really his fault that we now know where your stubborn streak comes from?"

As his dragon said this, Toshiro rapped his arms around his body, shivering and watching as his breath came out as steam. "Is any of this his fault? He didn't have to tell me the truth." His mind tumbled around the idea, then came to another conclusion. "He didn't do it to spite me. He did say he simply wanted to grant my Christmas Wish."

At that, two teal eyes glanced up at the sky. "This isn't turning out at all like I wanted it to. I imagined I would be disappointed in my parents for a different reason and that I could blame it all on me being a freak of nature and not wanted by anyone. I can accept something like that, but this just hurts more."

At that point, Hitsugaya pushed all his thoughts to the back of his mind, trying to forget the pain he was feeling as he didn't like feeling this level of emotions. Feeling cold and numb in a way helped him to block everything. As he stared forward, his eyes containing a rather vacant look, a voice suddenly spoke up.

"Shiro-chan?" At that, Toshiro glanced up to see Ichimaru smiling at him. He wasn't sure what the man was thinking though, as he stepped forward, due to the fact that the small child had always seen a smile on the man's face, even when there wasn't a reason to do so. The man stepped over and behind Hitsugaya, hanging the jacket over the small shoulders. "Next time you decide to run off, wear the proper clothing."

"Does it really matter?" The boy spoke up, refusing to look at the man as he sat down in the other swing. He pulled the jacket on, thankful to have some warmth for his body.

"Are you trying to ask me if it matters if you remember your jacket, or are you trying to ask me if it matters if you take care of yourself." The man continued to smile as two teal eyes glanced up in surprise. The answer to the first is no, but the answer to the second is yes."

At that, Toshiro glanced forward and let out a deep sigh. "Is this you personally saying this, or is this you saying what you think I want to hear, or is this you saying what you think I need to hear, or is this something to get me to talk to Matsumoto because you're trying to get me to talk to her again and you're trying to convince me that she does care about me?"