ICE DRAGON CHRONICLES
By: The Awesome God Apollo

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the amount of money I managed to save this year hasn't been able to convince Tite Kubo to sell out yet. But I'm still trying.

I had trouble with Hinamori's part, I'm not really a huge fan and figuring out what exactly made her tick and how her thought process would go was difficult for me. Sorry if it seems a bit disjointed or not in-character.

Is it possible to dedicate this to three people? I want to dedicate it to Ice Prince Hitsugaya, whose birthday I forgot (I'm so sorry) and who's helped me so much with this story, as well as to Winter Lover in the Snow whose birthday was pretty recent‼ and is always so sweet to me, AND to SaturnXK who is just amazing (more birthday forgetting on my part -.-") I love all of you ^^; Happy Shiro-day!

I'm not even going to bother with a long A.N. explaining my absence. I've been busy with school and life and I'm sorry. Long story. On with the chapter!

Chapter 6 – Labels

Hinamori Momo hated the cold.

Winter was always the worst time of year. The beautiful trees of the forest that lined her favourite clearing seemed to shrivel, bleeding white and sagging under the ice that would form. The simplicity of their little village gave way to harsh lines and sharp icicles, and the snow would trap her in their small house for hours.

The people of the village were no different; winter was an inconvenience that was insurmountable at best. It led to blocked roads, treacherous pathways and, more often than not, sickness running rampant among the cranky children. It was dreary, it was depressing, and worst of all, it was cold.

It had been the coldest day of the year when her grandmother had burst into the house with surprising agility, carrying a small bundle that had later become her little brother. Little Momo, enamoured by his beautiful eyes and happy smile, had picked him up right out of Granny's arms and bounced him up and down, stopping only when she had felt ice creeping onto her fingers.

She had given him back to Granny straight away, but the cold had already settled in her bones.

Years later, when she returned to visit her home during a break from the Academy, she felt it again. Only this time, her tenure as a Shinigami in the making had made her intimately familiar with the sharp tang of reiatsu. She hadn't breathed a word, merely pulling her uniform a little tighter around herself.

Its strength didn't surprise her as much as it should have, but it made her shiver nonetheless. She had known that he was ready for the Academy. Nevertheless, her mixed feelings had prevented her from making any move to set things in motion.

It was an odd combination. Envy that he was already so strong despite the lack of formal training. Guilt at leaving Granny behind that was only abated by the fact that Toshiro still kept her company. Jealousy that prompted her to want to protect her niche, the thing that was hers and no one else's, that she didn't have to share with her genius brother. And, above all the rest, a sense of responsibility and protectiveness to shield her little brother from the danger that the Shinigami world had to offer.

But as he stood before her, he didn't seem like the same person she had always protected and looked after. He seemed stronger, more determined, and she wasn't sure why.

She reached out with her senses, pushing with her reiatsu and feeling it pushed back by something unyielding and strong. Its chill sent a small tremor racing along her spine and she smiled wryly. Looking at her little Shiro-chan in front of her, swathed in the Academy uniform that seemed much too old for him, the cold had never reminded her so much of home.

A quiet voice interrupted her musings. "You're spacing out, Hinamori."

"Aw, were you worried about me, Shiro-chan? I was just thinking that you've grown a bit taller, that's all!" He scowled up at her, and her smile widened at the familiar scene.

"Shut up, Bed-Wetter Momo! And I told you not to call me that!"

"But really, Shiro-chan," she continued, "what are you doing here? I didn't know you wanted to become a Shinigami."

His expression hardened and he looked away. "I didn't want to come."

"Eh?" Momo was taken aback. Even if he didn't need protection, he wasn't the only person she wanted to look after. "Why did you come if you didn't want to? You could've stayed with Granny!"

"I didn't have any choice!" The words were sharp and defensive.

Momo frowned. "But now Granny's all alone! You shouldn't have left her by herself, Shiro-chan, you know that she-"

"You left first!"

Momo reeled back slightly in shock. As long as they had known each other, he had never raised his voice like that at her. Perhaps in jest, or in response to teasing, but they had never had such a violent argument before.

Toshiro stared up at her and she saw a brief flash of hurt in his eyes before his face became a mask of indifference. Guilt gnawed at her and she bit her lip. "I—I'm sorry, Shiro-chan. I didn't realise…"

At first it had seemed as though Toshiro had followed her for the company, something he had been wont to do when they were younger. She had rarely been seen without her little brother trailing after her, insistent on being by her side. But his slumped shoulders and tired eyes betrayed other possibilities that hadn't occurred to her, and it was almost like a slap to the face.

Momo placed a hand on his shoulder and he didn't shrug her off. "Shiro-chan, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

When he didn't reply, she frowned. He never kept any secrets from her. But she couldn't ask, not after they had just argued. She would pursue it another time. For now, though, she would change the subject to something more comfortable.

"Shiro-chan, why don't you come and meet the friends that I told you about?" At his skeptical face, she grinned (only half of it was fake). "I was on my way to meet them in the library."

Momo saw his eyes light up just a little at the prospect. It was enough for her, and a genuine smile blossomed on her face. She grabbed his hand and tugged him away quickly, ignoring the surprised "Oi!" from the disgruntled boy. "Come on, Shiro-chan! It'll be fun!"

"I told you not to call me Shiro-chan!"

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Toshiro followed a step or two behind Hinamori as she led the way to the library. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty because of his outburst. Hinamori had no way of knowing why he was there, and he wasn't going to tell her if he could help it. He knew, though, that him being there had dredged up old feelings for both of them, something neither of them wanted to deal with at the time. Hinamori seemed to have already let it go, so he didn't bring it up and trailed after her in relative silence as she chattered to him about the Academy.

The library was a small building, modest and understated. It was dwarfed by the dining hall nearby, with off-white walls and high arches. The entrance was lined with portraits and pictures and snippets of information for the idle to read and the doors, as seemed common in Seireitei, were unnecessarily large.

The second they stepped into the main archive, Toshiro knew that the library would become his favourite place in the Academy. Surprisingly vast despite initial appearances, it was quiet, full of interesting books, and there was a distinct lack of idiots around.

"Abarai-kun! Izuru-kun! There you guys are!" Toshiro eyed the two of them doubtfully. Perhaps he had been mistaken.

The taller of the two perked up in his seat, shouting a greeting before the withered librarian glared him into submission. He was well-built, toned muscles betraying years of training. Toshiro might have afforded him a grudging respect for this if not for his ridiculous hair. It stood upright in the most logically impossible manner, and was a red so bright it was almost blinding.

The other one wasn't much better. He was sitting down, hunched over a book, with blonde hair obscuring half of his face. His slumped posture might or might not have had anything to do with the idiot sitting beside him, but he looked like all the world was weighing on his frail shoulders. Hinamori had an interesting taste in friends.

Hinamori bounced up to the small table and Toshiro followed suit, eyeing everyone else warily. The rest of the people in the library were more subtle than the redhead had been in sizing him up, but he was acutely aware that he was the odd one out. A random blue-haired girl in the corner wasn't even trying to be discrete as she openly gawked after them.

Toshiro shook off the stares as best he could; there would be time to deal with them later. For now, he had to concentrate his efforts on murdering the redhead who was trying to ruffle his hair.

"Kinda short for a student, ain't he?" Toshiro's eye twitched and Hinamori flailed slightly to distract him.

"Shiro-chan, this is Abarai-kun!" She smiled as she nudged her friend in the side with her elbow.

Any attempt to correct her was cut off by the redhead, now identified as Abarai, who clearly couldn't take a hint. "I'm Abarai Renji, nice to meet ya! What's your name, brat?"

"Don't call me a brat, you pineapple-headed moron." His voice raised slightly in annoyance; he had never really liked pineapples anyway. The librarian glanced up sharply but said nothing.

"What did you call me, you little-?!" Abarai shouted and lunged forward to grab the collar of his uniform. The sudden appearance of a figure beside them made him stop in his tracks.

The spindly librarian, barely taller than Toshiro herself and looking older than the photos of the soutaicho Toshiro had seen the night before, had a rather imposing air about her as she pinned them down with her deep-set eyes. "I do not appreciate such noise and brash arguments in my library. I would ask you to please settle down, else remove yourselves from the premises if you insist on disturbing the other students."

Her command was soft but held an undercurrent of authority that Toshiro couldn't help but respect. Both he and Abarai quieted almost immediately, taking seats at opposite ends of the table. Toshiro blithely ignored Abarai's glares, choosing instead to make conversation with the blonde while Hinamori appeased her… friend.

"I'm Izuru Kira, a sixth year here. It's nice to meet you."

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, first year. And you as well."

They fell silent after that, neither having any idea how to continue. Normally, Toshiro would just bicker with whomever he had to interact with (it almost always being Hinamori) but Izuru didn't really seem like the bickering type. He just read silently as Toshiro drummed his fingers on the table for a few minutes, unwilling to admit boredom. Hinamori was deep in conversation with Abarai, probably having forgotten him already, so Toshiro busied himself studying the covers of the books that were splayed out on the table.

They covered a wide variety of subjects, most of which Toshiro had never heard of in his short tenure as a student. Basic English (1), The Releases of a Zanpakuto, The Mastery of Kidou…

Kidou? The name was familiar. It conjured a memory of an excited Hinamori, raving about how "Aizen-taichou" was a master of kidou, and how she wanted to be one too, but it was too difficult because it required such intricate control of her reiatsu. Intricate control which, she later told him, she had gained by learning the high-level kidou spells.

Toshiro looked down at the book with its innocuous cover. Maybe the trip hadn't been such a waste of time after all.

At the next break in the conversation, he took his chance to ask her. "Hinamori." Her head snapped towards him.

"Oh, Shiro-chan! I almost forgot you were there!" She giggled when he rolled his eyes, giving up on the correction.

"What's kidou?"

Her eyes lit up and beside her, Abarai groaned. "Don't you remember, Shiro-chan? I've told you about it before! Kidou is like using your reiatsu to make physical things like attacks or shields. It's the most fun thing we get to learn here!"

"Sure, it's fun when you can do it…" Izuru's book slipped in his grip to reveal his distraught expression. "But not all of us can memorise the incantations…"

Toshiro could practically see the waves of depression rolling off of him and shuffled his chair a bit further away. If the people he had met so far were any indication, Shinigami were an odd bunch.

"Incantations?" he asked Hinamori.

"Yeah, most kidou requires incantations." She grinned in Izuru's direction, before suddenly realising something and turning to him. "But Shiro-chan, it's probably too early for you to be learning kidou! It can be really dangerous if you don't manage it properly!"

He ignored her as he stood up. "…Shiro-chan?"

Toshiro made his way over to the librarian at her desk. "Excuse me, where are the books on kidou?"

She examined him for a moment before lifting her arm and pointing wordlessly. He nodded his thanks and followed her direction to a small section of the library to his right.

The book he wanted was relatively easy to find. Kidou and the Power Behind It: An In-Depth Exploration was slotted into the corner of the fifth shelf, barely out of his reach. He grabbed it and trudged back to the librarian, thankful that the tall shelves had hidden his need to jump to get it from prying eyes.

When he approached, the librarian looked up from her own book. "Excuse me again, would it be possible to take this book elsewhere?"

She glanced down at the title and then back at him again. "Name?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." He tried not to squirm under her appraising gaze. A skeletal hand jotted something down, and Toshiro resisted the urge to rest his chin on the desk and peer at the book she was writing in. He jumped when she waved dismissively.

"That book must be back within 10 days. You may drop it off here or request an extension of time."

Taking the curt dismissal for what it was, Toshiro thanked her and made his way back to the table where Hinamori and her friends were waiting expectantly, ignoring the curious stare of a student seated close to the desk. When he arrived at the table, Hinamori grabbed the book from his hands before making a noise of dismay.

"Ah, Shiro-chan," she began, "this is a fourth year book! It's got all the kidou spells up until number 70! Those are really dangerous, you know!"

He cut her off before she could continue. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Shiro-chan? And it's fine, I just need to learn the theory." Abarai and Izuru were watching them with interest at the prospect of an argument.

"But Shiro-chan! I'm sure you don't actually need to learn it so much that you can't wait until next year! You need to learn it from a proper instructor, or else you might blow yourself up like Abarai-kun always does! You're still too young to learn such dangerous techniques!" She countered.

Abarai spluttered in the background. "Oi, I thought we agreed not to mention that!"

Toshiro ignored him as he retorted. "Leave me alone, Hinamori! I'm not a little kid anymore, I can handle myself just fine."

She winced, silenced by the bite in his tone, and he allowed himself to feel a twinge of regret as he gathered his myriad of belongings and walked out of the library.

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If he was going to try to learn kidou, then he'd need a space large enough to practice in, but obscure enough that no one would find the inevitable trail of destruction he would leave behind. There didn't seem to be any such place that he knew of, but then again, the Academy was huge, slightly bigger than his little town in Junrinan.

He wandered for the better part of an hour before deciding to venture into the forest towards the back of the Academy's walls. It was a small forest, but it seemed big enough to hide what he was doing from the others in the area.

Toshiro had walked for a good few minutes before he literally stumbled upon his answer. Just beyond the dense trees, there was a small clearing. It looked hardly large enough for 15 people to stand in. The sun shone down heavily in the middle and a few haphazard rocks and plants were scattered on the ground. It would have to do.

When he sat down in the shade of the tree, he noticed an extra item in his 'bag'. At first glance, it looked like a bundle of cloth, but when he examined it, he found that it was a book-carrier. Stitched in neat block letters on the strap of the bag were the letters HM, and Toshiro instantly felt guilty. He hoped she had an extra bag stashed away – it would probably be rude to return this one to her.

Perhaps he had been too hasty snapping at her; she couldn't have known why he needed to learn kidou. No, he couldn't let her know. He'd make it up to her later when he saw her again. But first, he had some reading to do.

He leant against the tree, pulling out the book, and began to read. Kidou is the manipulation of reiatsu exerted by the wielder, directed in physical form to create defences or bindings, serve as offensive attacks or heal wounds. Kidou is a general term referring to the deployment of such reiatsu; it is further subdivided into three types: Hadou, Bakudou and Kaidou…

It took him nearly an hour to finish the book, but that hour had at least granted him a vague understanding of reiatsu and how it could be manipulated. It was time, then, for him to start learning kidou.

He began in a manner that seemed the most logical to him, accessing his reiatsu. Toshiro wasn't entirely sure he truly did have any, but the frost that coated any room he slept in and that exploding orb (which he had read about the night before) suggested otherwise. He felt a bit ridiculous, sitting on the ground with his eyes closed attempting to reach into the "core of his soul" which the reiatsu was ostensibly from, but he had no choice but to follow the book's guidance.

The harder he concentrated, the more he felt a cool wind on his face. It gradually increased in strength, until he heard a quiet roar in the vague distance, and his eyes snapped open.

A thin layer of frost had begun to coat the book in his hands, and he brushed it off quickly before it could do any damage. That feeling he had had moments ago, a sudden rush of energy that had lanced through his body, seemed very much like what the book had been trying to describe. Perhaps…

Toshiro grabbed a nearby rock, about twice the size of his fist, and recited the incantation for the first Hadou, Sho. He tried to force that feeling from him again, and he felt some energy build up when he channeled it to his right palm that he had placed directly in front of the rock. When he called the name of the spell, however, the rock merely tipped forward slightly before returning to its position.

He growled in annoyance before attempting it one more time. This time, he waited for the feeling to build up, for the roaring to become louder, before he began the incantation. As he chanted, the tingling feeling built up in his arms, and it slowly grew stronger.

"Hadou #1: Sho!" The Hadou hit its target, and the rock exploded outwards.

Toshiro jerked back in shock, but not before some shards of stone had embedded themselves in his palms. He had a sense of déjà vu, thinking wryly to himself that he had a penchant for making things explode. Perhaps he should learn healing kidou first.

When the sun's light began to dim, Toshiro stopped practicing. He picked up Hinamori's (now his, he supposed) bag and left the clearing, swaying slightly in exhaustion. The gashes on his hands had stopped bleeding, but despite trying for hours, he had only managed to heal two. Still, progress was progress, and he made his way to the main buildings with equal parts satisfaction and fatigue.

The closer he got to the dormitories, the more people seemed to trickle in from various places, apparently headed for either the dormitories or the dining hall. He received many sidelong glances from the other students when he veered towards the sixth year dormitories, but none of them stopped him as he disappeared amidst the (much taller) crowd.

After chucking his things into his room, he made his way to the dining hall without attracting too much attention, and he went into the back room, unwilling to deal with all the noise. Murayama-san was there, and she slipped him a simple but large meal silently, apparently understanding his disinterest in talking.

Toshiro demolished his meal hungrily, before returning it to Murayama-san and thanking her. He trudged back up to his room and slumped onto the bed tiredly. It wasn't long before exhaustion carried him back to the familiar stormy landscape.

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His classes the next day passed by in monotony. As seemed normal, they were almost entirely theory, with his first ever practical class being at the end of the curriculum day.

Toshiro paid attention in class, but he was one of the few. Most of the class was slacking off, staring out of the windows or outright sleeping on their desks in front of the teachers. The teachers themselves were relatively normal in comparison to everyone else he had met thus far, but many of them looked just as bored as the students, droning on to convey the necessary information before leaving as quickly as they could. He only hoped the practical classes were more interesting.

The moment Toshiro stepped into the Zanjutsu demonstration class (having followed his classmates and so being on time), he knew that he had got what he wished for. Probably more than he wished for.

One entire side of the room was lined with wooden swords of uniform size, and instantly Toshiro knew that they would probably be too big for him. The floor was lined with various mats that made a checkered pattern on the plain white floor.

Their teacher was standing by the largest window. He looked normal enough, at least. He had green eyes and close-cropped auburn hair. He had a grin on his face as he greeted the class, but the short sword at his waist and toned muscles gave Toshiro the impression that he knew what he was doing.

Their teacher waited until they were lined up before him to address them. "Alright, last class of the day!" One or two of the students mock cheered. "Let's get this over with so we can all get out of here!"

His gaze swept over the classroom and landed momentarily on Toshiro. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Fujita-sensei. Now, we'll be continuing as per normal. Split into pairs and hold practice fights. I want to see everyone practicing the techniques you've learnt. We're doing this for the rest of the day so I don't have to teach!" When no one moved, he rolled his eyes. "Let's go!"

Toshiro turned around at the dismissal, intent on finding the weakest person in the room. Instead, he found a wooden sword thrust at his face. He scrambled to catch it and was taken aback by its weight. Lifting it shakily, he looked up to see Watanabe grinning menacingly down at him.

"Come on, midget, there's no senpai to protect you now." Watanabe walked towards a random mat. Toshiro was reluctant to follow, but his pride wouldn't let him back down from the unspoken challenge, just as in Junrinan when he faced bullies. Besides, the other students had already found partners (although one group did have three people).

Toshiro made his way to Watanabe, ignoring two girls who were whispering rather loudly to each other.

"That kid is totally dead, I mean, Watanabe is ranked fifth! I wonder if sensei will intervene?"

"Sensei usually doesn't, though. Remember that whole thing about learning from experience?"

"But he might have to this time! The new kid doesn't even look like he can hold the sword properly."

They weren't entirely wrong, Toshiro mused as he gripped the weighted sword in his hands. He adjusted his grip until it felt somewhat more natural, but the added weight was just going to slow him down, and speed seemed to be the only advantage he had against Watanabe.

Watanabe sneered. "I hope you at least give me a little challenge, brat. Ready?"

Toshiro didn't want to, but he nodded anyway.

Forgoing formalities, Watanabe lunged forward, and Toshiro sluggishly brought the sword up to stop himself from being mowed down. He staggered backwards under the sheer force of the strike. Watanabe raised his sword to swing again, and Toshiro found himself clumsily blocking wherever possible, although Watanabe did get a good few glancing blows in.

Toshiro experimentally swung his sword at Watanabe, putting as much force behind it as he could. He was pleased to see Watanabe's arms bend as his sword was pushed back slightly, but it was a small victory. Watanabe retreated slightly, only to rain blows down on Toshiro with short, sharp strikes, interspersed with quick jabs to his abdomen. Toshiro couldn't keep up with him, and his comparatively meager strength meant that he was being forced backwards.

With one particularly vicious blow, Watanabe knocked Toshiro onto the mat, sending the wooden sword clattering onto the floor. "And that's a victory for me." He laughed smugly.

Toshiro dragged himself up from the floor, picking up his sword. "We're supposed to keep fighting until Fujita-sensei tells us to stop."

Watanabe raised a single eyebrow condescendingly. "You seriously asking for more after that beatdown, kid?" Toshiro didn't reply except to raise his sword again. "Fine by me, you arrogant brat!"

Toshiro forced himself to remain calm and analyse the situation. Watanabe was clearly still seeking revenge, angry over their previous encounter – that anger would cloud his judgement. That could give Toshiro the advantage.

When he concentrated, Watanabe's movements seemed slower. Toshiro heard a distant roar that made him grip his sword tightly. Suddenly he began to move just a bit faster, push back with just a bit more force, but it wasn't enough to overwhelm his opponent.

Watanabe was repeating his earlier tactic, using brute force to push him back towards the boundary of their designated space. Toshiro didn't have enough strength to compete with him, and so went for glancing blows and evasion, attempting to attack where Watanabe couldn't guard, but he didn't have much space to maneuver and the sword was too heavy in his hands. He needed the element of surprise, to use Watanabe's strengths against him in a way that would throw him off…

He scrutinised his opponent as he dodged a frustrated swing once more. Watanabe had an odd technique, holding his sword horizontal to the ground before swinging it upwards to gain momentum. It was likely a subconscious quirk, a defensive measure in case Toshiro decided to throw himself forward, but he could use that to create an opening.

Toshiro lunged forward suddenly, interrupting the monotony that their fight had become. Watanabe's sword came up to meet him instantly, and Toshiro stumbled backwards under the weight of the swing. This time though, he made sure he was out of reach before launching himself into the air, just as Watanabe had his sword horizontal to the ground.

He landed on Watanabe's sword, crouching just in front of his face.

Toshiro took advantage of Watanabe's shock, pushing off the sword immediately and leaping over him with agility Toshiro wasn't sure how he had. The momentum knocked the sword from Watanabe's hands and Toshiro, directly behind him, seized the opportunity, bringing his wooden sword up to rest at Watanabe's neck.

Toshiro pressed the sword down slightly. "Yield." Watanabe's posture slumped slightly, enough for Toshiro to recognise that the fight wouldn't continue.

He let the wooden sword fall to his side to stunned silence. Watanabe, for once, wasn't running his mouth. Several pairs of students around them had stopped fighting to watch the spectacle although training continued in the background.

Toshiro stepped away from Watanabe, ducking under the irritated hand that shot out to grab him. "Why you little—"

A shrill whistle cut them off, saving Toshiro from the continued fight. Watanabe narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as Fujita-sensei beckoned everyone over to him. "Okay, maggots, that was vaguely acceptable! Half of you weren't using the techniques you've learnt but it's not like you listen to me anyway. Those of you whom I corrected today had better not make the same mistakes again! Class dismissed!"

Fujita-sensei glanced over at Toshiro, and added quietly, "And save the jumping for Hakuda, Hitsugaya."

Toshiro gave him a curt nod before moving to leave his wooden sword at the side of the class. He grabbed his bag and made to leave, but Watanabe stepped into his path. A few others slowed down their pace, obviously intending to watch if another fight broke out. "Hey, midget, this isn't over! I'll crush you the next time!"

Toshiro rolled his eyes, glancing past the bumbling fool in front of him to the now empty doorway. "I wonder." He brushed past Watanabe, trying to make a quick exit.

Watanabe grabbed his shoulder. "Oi! Look at your superiors when they're talking to you!" A warning glance from Fujita-sensei made him slacken his grip.

Toshiro shrugged him off, hiking his bag further up his shoulder and stalking away to the solace of his clearing.

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Toshiro later discovered that he was good at being a Shinigami.

Since his unconventional defeat of Watanabe in class, he had begun to find shortcuts to achieving results. They weren't necessarily the most traditional methods, but they got the job done. Hakuda was relatively simple once Toshiro learnt how to take advantage of his size, slipping under the guard of his opponents before striking them with hard fast blows. His mind granted him a further advantage, allowing him to strategise and create tactics and techniques beyond what they were taught, which always seemed to throw the others off. A few weeks into his classes, he was ranked fourth among his classmates for Hakuda and had little desire to take on any of the top three.

Hoho, too, was not difficult to master. His size once again gave him a slight advantage over the others, and he had quickly learnt how to use quick bursts of reiatsu when he used Shunpo rather than following the traditional method of channeling a constant reiatsu through his legs. His speed increased as he began to devote more time to learning kidou, until he became the second fastest in the first-year class.

Zanjutsu was the class he had the least trouble with. After the first week, Fujita-sensei had pulled him aside, spending some time after lessons to correct Toshiro's form and strokes that the other students had learnt before he had arrived. Even after that, he still jumped around, much to Fujita-sensei's dismay, but found he had a natural talent for swordplay that had nothing to do with his size or intelligence. He practiced after class when he had the chance, and, though the sword still felt uncomfortably heavy, over the course of a few months steadily pushed his ranking up to first in their class. (Although, he had never had a proper match with Watanabe since their first and only fight – Fujita-sensei was very careful about who he paired with whom.)

That was when the rumours first began. Hinamori had caught up with him one day, pulling him aside to tell him that she'd heard things about an unusual first-year student.

"Oh, Shiro-chan, they're calling you a tensai now!" He didn't have any response for her, the same way he had no response for the few people who actually approached him. Any bullying had died out quickly, squashed by the terrifying image the rumours had created, but whispers now followed close behind him.

"I heard he kicked Watanabe's ass after class too!"

"Really? Someone told me that he threatened a sixth year to get his room!"

"I heard that he killed someone, that's why he joined so late."

The last hit a little too close to home.

He couldn't say that he was surprised at their treatment of him. Years in Rukongai had taught him not to chase acceptance, so he didn't bother with the others. He couldn't quite deny that he had hoped it would be different, and he found himself becoming a bit more of a recluse, spending less time with Hinamori and more time in the clearing. Which, of course, sparked even more rumours.

The extra time spent throwing himself into learning kidou did have its benefits. He would spend the first half of the afternoon meditating, trying to find that stormy place and, after nearly two weeks of trying, learnt how to redirect the storm. The dragon's roars were still lost to the wind, but Toshiro was able to channel some of that energy, reiatsu, through his body.

The second half of the afternoon was spent learning the kidou itself. Each new kidou had increasingly complex chants, and messing up the name would end badly, as he knew from experience. Still, he persevered, repeating each kidou hundreds of times until they did what they were supposed to do.

By the time four weeks had passed, he had learnt up until Hadou #34 and Bakudou #22, and he was skilled enough at Kaidou to heal the minor cuts and bruises he gained from the practice. His constant repetition of various Hadou spells had blown multiple holes in the clearing, and it was already marginally bigger than it had been before. His Hadou #1: Sho was powerful enough that he had managed to destroy several rocks in the same fashion as he had the first time, except this time it had enough thrust that all the rock fragments went in the other direction. And, with each kidou he learnt, the frost that crept over his room at night, although ever-present, continued to thin.

That particular day, Toshiro found himself in the clearing revising the previous kidou. It was routine for him to do so at least weekly, going over each kidou that he had learnt up until that point to ensure that he didn't forget.

Hadou #31 was one of his recent favourites, and he practiced it the most often. It had a relatively easy incantation for the amount of destructive power it held.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the South! Hadou #31: Shakkahou!" The red orb of energy grew to the size of his head, and he fired it, aiming for one of the trees at the side of the clearing. As the Hadou stuck the tree, the wood splintered and gave way as the concentrated attack burnt a hole clean through the tree without causing it to topple. Toshiro lowered his hands, satisfied with his control.

"Well, well, would you look at that, Jyuushirou. Kidou already up to the 30s."

"So it seems. How impressive!"

Toshiro spun around so fast he almost fell over. Two men were standing at the edge of the clearing. One, a familiar figure, was leaning on the stump of a tree Toshiro had destroyed a few weeks prior. The other, with long hair and a smile on his face, stood upright beside him.

"It's you!" Toshiro stared at the man. Kyouraku, if he remembered correctly. (3) In fact, if his memory served, that was Kyouraku Shunsui, Captain of the 8th Division. Who always seemed to be slacking off somewhere. Surely the man had some duties?

He turned his attention to the other man. He was an unfamiliar figure, tall but not imposing. White hair fell past his shoulders, and he had kind green eyes. He, too, wore the white haori that supposedly marked out a captain. (Really, it was like captains had nothing better to do.)

Kyouraku grinned, adjusting his hat. "Yes, it's me. A friend of mine wanted to meet you." He gestured lazily in the other man's direction and Toshiro's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The white-haired man walked over to Toshiro and bent down to match his height (already Toshiro didn't like him much). (2) "Hello, I'm Ukitake Jyuushirou. Nice to meet you, my fellow Shiro-chan!"

(1) Surely not all souls that die in Japan speak Japanese. They must know a number of other languages, at least conversationally. I'm assuming they learn any other necessary languages when they join their squads.

(2) He's addressing them by their last names in his head, not aloud, so it's not that he's being rude or anything…

(3) I do think he grows to like Ukitake, but seeing how much he hates being treated like a child, I doubt there was a good first impression.

There are no replies for anons did I scare them all away ;A;

What can I say? I'm sorry for not updating. It's been really crazy. Expect more chapters this year though.

Thanks to Dragon-Silhouette, Stelra-Etnae, wildedge, SwingingRobin, This-Is-Where-My-Name-ShouldBe, Winter Lover in the Snow, xX Feathered Xx, littlemissxflydog, o0Omeiuqer0Oo, ToshiLuver15 and Cookie-the-Rookie for your lovely reviews! And thank you to everyone who favourited and followed and didn't give up on this story! /hugs for everyone

Also can I just take a moment to say that Toshiro needs to come back to life right now Bleach is getting seriously boring…

Til next chapter‼ (Which I swear on my life will be soon really I'm in the process of writing it now)

T.A.G.A. 3