heyy guise *wink wink* how are ya'll doing on this fine (rainy) totally seattle day? omg i wish i was ten. just a thought.

anyways, this piece of pie is horrible okay don't read it. um. yeah! neways good luck reading this thing. oh yeah, and, for some reason i'm obsessed with this - like - dunno - uh, isshin x hitsugaya x matsumoto thing. like not ships. but...not really a broship either. idk.

hitsugaya is young. and that's my reason for why he's super OOC. and yeah. btw i ship hitsugaya x matsumoto cus i HATEHATEHATE hinamori so - yeah.

disclaimer: i do not own bleach.

enjoy? (you won't but go ahead and try)

Isshin Shiba was a fool.

The world revolved around him - but he never considered the catastrophic effects his disappearance would have. Despite his frivolities and ability to shove paperwork onto other people, Shiba was a good captain. People respected him.

Maybe it was his height, or his friendliness - but it was something - something Hitsugaya felt like he didn't have. Hitsugaya had been shoved in the spot of captain without any questioning. But how was he supposed to lead when no one had ever taught him how?

After all, everything came down to the one fact -

Isshin Shiba was a fool -

is a fool. He didn't know. Shiba was something - a hard to define something. Something that left without giving instructions, a thing that simply didn't know the correct way of doing things. In a way, Toshiro Hitsugaya was extremely angry.

He looks at the makeshift grave in front of Kukaku Shiba's house and sneakily presses his back to it, hoping they won't find him here.

Their hate of shinagami is remarkable, after all - it wouldn't do him good to be caught.

Grateful for a headrest, he lets the cold of the gravestone seep through his shihakusho (no - captain's cloak?) and his hair. A few droplets of moisture run down his arm and he shivers, feeling his left arm tingle in surprise. He sits in silence, contemplating silly, childish thoughts he usually never has time for.

Like - when was the last time he has seen Momo? Surely not since she was promoted to a vice captain. That bed-wetter...never had time for him anymore. And how is Matsumoto keeping up? He knows she is just as devastated as he is, albeit in a different way. And here comes the weirdest thought of all - what if Soul Society had robots that came from Mars that shot lasers from their chests? He'd suggested it to Yamamoto at some point seeing him before he even knew who the Head Captain was (first day of the Academy?) but the old death god had just smiled at him and said, "Pah! What need for silly machines do we have?" He didn't understand - still doesn't.

Hitsugaya runs a hand through his hand, touching his fingertips to the gravestone until it numbs, then pulls it back, letting the white strands fall in front of his face. "Shiba-tai-" his voice trembles in the awkward, dead silence. "-chou," he finishes, scooting around so he faces the words etched in stone. He traces the letters of the name letting his fingers remember who this was-is. "You aren't dead," he accuses, breaking a piece of stone off the edge (it feels like sacrilege) and digging it into the dirt. "You're down there with-" he pauses, eyebrows furrowing in something-like-hate-but-also-jealousy, "-some Quincy. Aren't you. A human," he states, rather than asks. An emotion wells up in his chest - what is it - sadness - envy - regret - pride?

"But not me. Or 'Rangiku-chan'. Or Hirako-taichou. Or Yamamoto-soutaichou. You aren't here for any of us," he murmurs then shouts, liking the way it echoes in his small, barren world. He pretends he doesn't see the house or the two colossal stone arms shooting up from the ground.

"You...are a fool," he whispers, two fingers pressed to his bottom lip, just so he can feeling something - himself - he's there - not with Shiba-taichou - he doesn't know - what is he thinking? "Hey, Shiba-taichou...I don't know how to be a captain. Come on - tell me what to do. Give me something to work with here - make it easier for me. My world is breaking down because of you - and - what am I supposed to do? Tell me, tell me what to do..." his voice trails off and he scrambles backwards from the grave as two figures approach him.

One shouts, loudly, pointing his finger at him. "It's a shingami, sis! Like the one that killed bro-" the girl shuts him up abruptly, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Shush! Can't you see he's crying? C'mon, help me lift him!" Kukaku (was it her? he couldn't tell) lifts him over her shoulder easily and he doesn't resist, watching as the path where she walks is littered with tears.

Whose tears? he asks himself numbly, but already knows the answer. And when they reach the door, he sees a sparkling trail of tears from him to the grave - to Shiba-taichou - still gleaming in the afternoon winter sun.

"Hitsugaya - is it? No, Hitsugaya-taichou now, is that right?" Kukaku asks, petting him on the head.

"No," he whispers shyly, nose red and embarrassed at being caught in such a weak position. "No, just Hitsugaya please...I'm not a captain...Shiba-taichou is."

"Nonsense!" Kukaku assures. "You look like a mighty fine captain to me. My family..." she smiles kind of bitterly kind of regretfully, "they were all fools. Don't worry about it."

"No...I don't know...how," he mutters, looking at the floor, "...to be a captain..."

"I'm sure you do," Kukaku disagrees, pulling him towards the kitchen, where Ganju is making some sort of porridge. "Get some grub."

"Okay..." he says with a blank face, settling himself onto a chair, hands folded, legs straight (yet not long enough to touch the floor) just like how he is taught to do. But slowly, he shifts until his legs are crossed and and he leans back, arms folded across his chest. He sits like Shiba-taichou, lazy, relaxed, and utterly informal. But he likes it - and closes his eyes.

Kukaku's voice sounds near his right ear. "Why, don't you look just like a captain. Isshin would have been proud, Toshiro-kun." It's faint but it's approval and he -

He cries. And cries and sobs and sobs and cries and -

-he cries until all his tears are gone.

Toshiro Hitsugaya is gonna be his own captain someday, you know?

Nope, he's not gonna wanna be like Shiba, no way, not at all - because - you know why?

It's because -

- Isshin Shiba was a fool.

melmel12129