Of Birthdays and Siblings

Stepping In

A snowflake fell on top of an orange head of hair as the Substitute Shinigami moved through Karakura Town. The teenager glanced around with his brown eyes, glad that it was the winter break and he wasn't having to miss schools because a Hollow showed up. He also found himself glad that he had his powers back and felt like himself once again.

As he stopped in midair, Ichigo suddenly found himself pausing as he felt a familiar feeling. A frown spread across his face. The rieatsu he felt was one of the few he had come to learn to identify. He found himself quickly moving towards the icy feeling and landing in the air above an old power station.

Two brown eyes looked the building over and could tell it was rather run down. The substitute could feel the corner of his mouth twist up. "Why is Toshiro here of all places? It doesn't seem like a place he would come to hang out, Not to mention, if he needed a place to stay there are plenty of people who he could stay with."

The teen dropped to the ground, landing on his knee. He then walked over to the gate and found that the place wasn't locked up. As his frown deepened, the young man moved towards the door and opened it. The cold was starting to pick up and he found himself moving into the small room and taking a look around.

Toshiro was sitting up against the wall shivering. The boy was dressed in his uniform but he was missing his haori. One corner of the room were icicles hanging from the roof. Despite the fact the door creaked as he came in the child taicho didn't notice that Ichigo had come into the room. He slipped over and knelt down.

"Can't you feel my rieatsu? It's such a pain to shut it off, you should have noticed that I was here." Ichigo watched as Toshiro continued to shiver. "Toshiro..." A smile came to his face as the boy glanced up at him. The pair of teal eyes were glazed over and there came no verbal response. "You aren't going to yell at me that it is Captain Hitsugaya? You're always chewing me out."

"I'm not in a position to make those kinds of demands from you." The boy glanced down at the ground.

"I would push you more about what is going on, but I've got to get you some place to warm up." Ichigo moved to one side of the boy and moved to scoop the boy up.

His hands were almost touching Toshiro when the boy suddenly spluttered out some words. "Don't! I'm waiting for her to get back and if you take me away she won't know where I am!"

"Who?" Two brown eyes watched as the small white haired boy opened his mouth to say something, only to hear a cough come out. "How about I get you some place warm and then I go looking for this person as soon as you feel me in on the details."

The child's eyes closed and Ichigo found himself able to lift the boy up without any argument. He then began to head back to his house. "Well, this isn't the first time I've had to carry him. The other time happens to be when he..." Ichigo closes his eyes, thinking about the fact the situation was a bit to familiar. "I won't ask him until I can start getting him warmed up. Just in case, I'll take him to my place as Urahara's place is likely where the Shinigami will come through looking for him."

Ichigo arrived at his house and perched on the window sill of his room. He tapped on the window and a few minutes later a rather bored Kon opened up the door. Setting Toshiro down on the bed, he quickly closed the window behind him and popped into his body. He grabbed the green pill and stuffed it into the plushy body.

Kon began to struggle. "What the hell is the kid doing here! I thought that nee-chan would be the one who would be coming to visit, not that brat."

Ichigo tossed the lion to the side and stormed over to his closet and pulled out a blanket. "Rukia is busy with her fukutaicho duties."

"Well, he's a taicho so he should have more duties then Rukia. So why is he here. He wouldn't be unless..." Kon paused in is speech. "Unless of course he's decided to run away for some reason. If I remember correctly he's done that before. What trouble has he gotten into this time."

"Shut up Kon." Ichigo walked over to Toshiro and began to tuck the blanket around the shivering figure. He took a deep sigh and shook the boy a bit. Toshiro glanced up at him and he sat down while keeping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Mind telling me what is going on?"

"I'm not sure where to start." Toshiro's head leaned against the pillow.

"How about who would be upset if you weren't where I found you? That wouldn't be Rangiku-san would it?" The Substitute Shinigami thought about how Rangiku would know though to come and find Toshiro here, not to mention she would have thought to come for him for help.

"You haven't met her." The boy tried sitting up, only to clutch his head suddenly and let out a painful hiss.

"Is she new to the Shinigami ranks?" Ichigo asked.

"She isn't a Shinigami. She's actually... she's a Quincy." The boy closed his eyes and moved his hand to cover his eyes.

"So, you decided to go out of your way to rescue her? Why? I mean, Uryu goes on and on about how you Shinigami and you Quincy are enemies and how you shouldn't help each other out. And where exactly did she come from? I mean, the Quincy are supposed to be near extinct from what Uryu's told me."

"Where did she come from?" A frown spread across Toshiro's face. Closing his eyes he tugged on Ichigo's sleeve. "Help me so I can sit up."

"Sure." The orange haired teen lifted the boy up into a sitting position. "Do you need another blanket to warm up."

Upon receiving a nod, he headed over to the closet. As his back was turned, he found Toshiro saying something strange. "Where do I come from?"

Ichigo paused while Kon suddenly burst into laughter. Patiently he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Don't you mean to ask where she came from?"

Toshiro glanced up, his normally bright eyes still glazed over. "Actually... asking where she is from and where I am from is pretty much the same question. The reason being, she's my sister."

"So, wait... your telling me I've got another kid to look after?" Ichigo watched as Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "Right, you're not a kid anymore then my two sisters are anymore. But keep in mind you are still a kid in some ways."

"Why didn't you bring up the fact that I have Quincy blood?" The question came out of the small boy's mouth.

"I get why you couldn't turn to your fellow Soul Reapers for help, but why didn't you come to me for help?" Ichigo shook his head at the boy.

"I told her we should, but she said she doesn't know you and doesn't know if she can trust you." Toshiro's voice strained. "Why aren't you asking me about me being a hybrid between a Quincy and a Shinigami."

"I'm not sure why. Maybe its because I have no problem with other hybrids. I mean, you know that the other Substitute Shinigami had a Shinigami parent, so it shouldn't surprise you to hear that I am half Shinigami. My other half is..." Ichigo suddenly paused, blinking a couple of times. "Of course, there is that option which would explain a lot."

"Explain what?" Toshiro shook his head, only to wince and let out a sound of pain. His hand went to touch his forehead.

"I was just thinking, my mom was rather quick about getting between me and that Hollow when I was a kid. Which means she had to have been able to see spirits. Normal humans can't see Hollows, so the question of how she was able to see them comes up. I guess she could have been a Quincy herself."

"Kurosaki... don't you dare be fool enough to tell anyone that theory of yours. You'll put your entire family into danger."

"Why not? I don't mind being who I am."

"Because, we have a new forty-six and there is no telling whether they'll order the execution of not just yourself but your entire family."