Solved Puzzle-

~His Past~

"Come on Tōshirō, you promised!" the young child whined, her moon-like eyes glaring at the white haired boy.

"Alright, alright." said the boy, lips slightly twitching upward. "Only for a while because I have to get home."

"Alright!" saluted the 9 year old girl.

Once again, Toshiro tried to teach the girl how to kick, dribble, and pass the soccer ball and once again, the girl failed to do so. He sighed and rubbed his temples as she pouted and kept her determined eyes set on the ball.

"Ok, Ok, I got this!" she repeated, trying to kick the black and white ball but once again failing to do so as her butt met the ground.

"We should go home now, it's getting late." Toshiro said looking up at the sky as the sunset came into view. The girl stopped her tantrum and looked up as well.

There was a moment of silence that they both shared. A sunset, something so beautiful shouldn't be ignored or unnoticed.

"Yea, I guess we should, but first, let's get some watermelon!" she shouted, grey eyes shining with excitement as she ended the comforting silence.

Toshiro scrunched up his face in disgust. "Nope, it's my turn to pick what we eat and I choose Amanattō."

The girl only laughed, immediately ruffling his hair and making Toshiro's cheeks warm up as he pushed her hand away from his head.

"Ok just hold up one more second, I want another try!" she said, giving him the puppy eyes when she saw his irritated face. "Please?" she begged.

Toshiro tried avoiding her eyes but miserably failed to do so. He rolled his eyes as a small smile crept to his lips. "Fine, alright then. You win."

The girl cheered and scrunched her brows together as she concentrated on the ball. She just had to kick the ball and that's it! So why was it that she always missed? Still keeping her eyes on the ball, she ran towards it and made a powerful swing with her right leg. In an instant, she felt that it connected with something. When she realized what it was, she cried with joy.

"Look Toshiro! I did it, I did it!"

"Finally, I was beginning to grow white hairs!" he replied, chuckling lightly.

"You're silly, Toshiro! What a lame joke!" The girl said laughing all the while as she pointed at his white hair. He rolled his eyes and she stopped laughing when she noticed that her soccer ball was rolling off to the streets. "GAH, it's getting away!" she shouted, running after it.

"Hey! Wait, be careful!" Toshiro shouted, running after her.

"Don't worry Toshiro!" she yelled back. "I got it!"

He sighed with relief as he saw her across the street with the soccer ball tightly secured in her hands.

"Alright, hold up." he said, waiting for the stop sign to change. Once changed, he bounded towards her. "You have to be more care-"

"Watch out Toshiro!" the girl shouted, her gray colored eyes filled with worry as she ran over to him and pushed him back.

After that, all he could hear were sirens and people's voices. He couldn't open his eyes; he didn't want to open them, because he knew that if he did, he'd have to know the reason for the weight added above him. Someone was over him, and that person was very still. He didn't want to open his eyes, too afraid of what his eyes would display.

"Are they ok!" he heard someone ask.

He forcefully opened his eyes and was met with the dull grey colored eyes of his best friend, no crush. She was so still and cold.

"Bye Toshiro." were her last words before her eyes lost the touch of the silver like color he loved so much.

He widened his eyes at the realization that hit him. She saved him! She saved his life and in return, she's the one who ended up dying!

"No, you can't leave me! You can't leave me now!" Toshiro whimpered, forcing his arms to wrap around the girls waist. "You're the only friend I've ever had, so you can't leave me now!"

"He's moving!" someone cried.

"But what about the girl on top of him, is she ok?" someone else asked.

"Move aside," Interrupted a medic, Toshiro assumed.

He was still tightly hugging the girl, afraid that she would disappear from his sight.

"Kid, could you get up?" the medic asked, shaking the girl lightly.

"She's a goner." another medic said.

"You're lying! She's not dead!" Toshiro shouted.

"I'm sorry," was all he said as other medics tried to pick up the girl's corpse.

"Don't take her away from me!" he shouted.

People around him gave him pitting looks as the medics tore the girl's body away from his grasp.

A funeral was held for her a few days later. Her family members were there, which only consisted of her parents and grandparents. She was, after all, an only child.

He stayed at the coffins side the whole time, even after she was buried and everyone was leaving. His parents urged him to go home, he declined.

"Come on Toshiro, let's go home, it's getting pretty late." his mother once said.

"It's Hitsugaya!" he shouted back. 'Only she can call me Toshiro.' he thought. His mother sighed with defeat and left. He stayed at the cemetery for a while before getting up and walking towards the exit. It only took him four steps to realize that he wasn't alone. He felt a presence somewhere nearby.

Toshiro looked around but saw no one. He started walking again but gave out a cry when he was smashed to the ground by an invisible force.

'What the-'

His thoughts were interrupted as another impact was brought to the crook of his neck. That's when everything went blank.

"Where am I?" He whispered. 'Better yet, who am I?' He couldn't remember anything. It was like his mind was completely void of everything, except the lingering image of a girl with gray colored eyes.

"Are you okay young boy? What's your name?"

He looked up startled to see an old woman staring down at him.

He scowled. "I don't- Toshiro." he found himself saying. "Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Toshiro huh?" she said. He nodded and noticed that he flinched when she said his first name.

Just then his stomach growled. The old woman just smiled at him.

"How about you come with me shopping and I make you some dinner?" she asked.

He hesitated a bit but nodded nonetheless when he heard his stomach growl again.

She smiled calmly the entire time they were in the market.

"So I see you like watermelon and Amanattō," she said after they exited a market.

Toshiro shrugged. "I don't exactly think I like watermelon but it reminds me of something," he said. 'Or someone,' he thought as the image of the girl flashed across his mind again.

The lady only nodded with the same kind smile.

Toshiro gasped when he woke up. Sweat poured down his face as another nightmare once again crept into his mind. No wait; scratch that, not nightmares but horrible memories, memories of his past when he used to be alive, memories that he would rather forget.

He got up from the futon and made his way towards the kitchen. Once there, he took out a watermelon that was in a crate and started cutting it up. 'Granny won't mind', he thought. When he finished cutting it, he headed outside toward the porch and sat down staring off at the sunset.

"Shiro, there you are." An annoying voice came in. Well, not really annoying but an irritating one. Wait, they're the same right? Well, whatever.

"Don't call me Shiro, bed wetter Momo!" Toshiro scowled as he ate his watermelon, ignoring the girl beside him.

"Not until you go to the same shinigami academy as I do Shiro!"

"No way, who'd want to go there?" Toshiro asked, disgust forming in his face.

Momo shrugged. "Anyways, I won't be here tomorrow to visit you because Captain Aizen and I are going to train," she cheered.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, he could care less.

"So, can you tell me more about this friend of yours when you used to be alive, since you know, you got part of your memories back and all." Momo asked.

He knew it was just an innocent question but Toshiro felt like yelling at her. Why the hell did she want to know about his past from when he used to be alive? They were his memories, his precious memories that he shared with the silver eyed girl only. "It's none of your business," he snapped and continued to eat his watermelon as he spat the black seeds at the brown eyed girl, something he remembered from his past life when a certain someone with silver eyes used to do it to him whenever she was annoyed.

"Can I at least know her name?" Momo pondered.

Toshiro sighed with frustration and was about to yell at her to go back to the academy or something but stopped when he realized that he didn't know the girls name! Instead of telling her the truth, he spat seeds at her once again. Annoyed, she got up and entered the small wooden house. "Wait until granny hears about what you did, Shiro!"

Toshiro growled, "Its Hitsugaya," And then proceeded in eating his watermelon.

After a while he figured out why he adored watermelon so much. It was because she liked watermelon. And knowing that he would always have something that she adored made him feel better, but only slightly.

Only the sound of crunches filled his ears and only the sight of a sunset forming filled his eyes.

~The Present~

"Captain Hitsugaya, you are to go to the world of the living and investigate the many hollows that have been appearing in Karakura town."

"As you wish Captain Yamamoto!" the white haired boy replied, bowing lightly at the head before exiting the 1st division.

"So we're going to the world of the living Captain?" a cheery voice asked.

"Matsumoto, we are only there for the mission, not shopping!" he scowled.

Said girl pouted. "Aww, you're no fun Captain! I feel bad for your future wife."

Toshiro ignored her as he entered the 10th division office and picked up his zanpakuto. "We have no time to waste Matsumoto, let's go."

She saluted and they both flash stepped towards the Senkaimon.

He didn't know why he was in a gigai. Hell, he didn't even know why he offered to take up this mission! There was nothing to do, no hollow attacks, nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.

He walked the streets of Karakura but was interrupted by his thoughts when a rolling soccer ball came into view.

He watched it roll into the street and in an instant he stopped the ball from crossing the street and picked it up, examining it with so much concentration that you'd think he was glaring at it. He stopped staring at it when he felt a presence near him, staring at him to be exact.

He slightly moved the crook of his neck to look at the person. His eyes widened slightly for a moment before going back to the same bored expression. She seemed so familiar, especially her bright gray eyes.

"Is this yours?" Toshiro asked.

The girl gulped, "Uh-yea."

His eyes narrowed. 'So she knows how to play soccer too.' "You should be more careful with it." Toshiro said, lightly kicking the ball up towards her. He waited for a second more to make sure she caught the ball and when she did, he immediately left.

As soon as Toshiro knew he was far away from the girl, he let himself tremble in agony.

'It wasn't her Toshiro, it was just someone that looked like her.' he kept telling himself. Another image of her eyes flashed through his head. "Ridiculous." he said to no one in particular as he resumed the streets of Karakura.

As he was heading back towards Orihime's house, he immediately stopped when something caught his attention. His gaze fell towards the sky and his face softened. He went over to the rail that was displayed in front of him and sat down on it watching the sun slowly set. Just then his soul pager beeped and with a scowl, he took the pager out and flipped it open.

His scowl deepened when he saw who it was from.

Matsumoto.

He then proceeded in reading her message which earned a left eye twitch.

He started furiously clicking the pager and only stopped when he heard footsteps coming towards him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the same girl from earlier. The same girl that's haunted his mind for the past hour or so.

"Hi there, it's me again. You picked up my ball remember?" she said.

"Yea," was Toshiros only response. He didn't know what to say. What was he supposed to say?

"Uh, thanks a lot." she said.

"No big deal, really." he replied, resuming back to his phone and trying to ignore the girl.

"So, I was wondering, what school do you go to?"

"Huh! What are you talking about! I don't go to any school, so just leave me alone! Can't you see that I'm busy?" Toshiro snapped.

"Hey, do you play soccer by any chance?" she asked, ignoring his rude attitude.

"I don't know." Toshiro didn't really want to talk to this girl right now. Especially if it involved soccer. He only played soccer with one person and that was a long time ago. Well, not really played since she just started, but it was something.

"Well we got a big game coming up, do you want to play with us-" before he could reply, four boys yanked her away from him.

He went back to his texting trying to ignore them but couldn't since they were whispering so loudly. Then, that's when he heard it, one of the boys remark about him.

"… and besides, he looks way too little to be playing soccer with us."

"What did you say? And who are you calling little?" Toshiro scowled, tick mark appearing on his temple.

The four boys gulped and backed away slowly.

"Uh-he didn't mean any-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Toshiro snapped his pager shut and started walking away from them.

"Hey, hold up." he heard her say. He just ignored her, already irritated that the sun had already set and they had distracted him from seeing it. No wait, they didn't, it was her. She distracted him from watching the sunset, something not even Momo or Rangiku could do.

"Watch this," he heard her say, and just as it was said, he heard the sound of a leg kicking a ball. By instinct, Toshiro made a back kick and was pleased when it made contact with the soccer ball. It flew past the dark haired girl who had just gulped and towards the boy that had his hair as an afro.

Her feared expression turned into one of achievement as she pumped her hand midair. "Alright!" she cheered.

The others followed suit and Toshiro found himself surrounded by the young children. They were awed by him and asked him so many questions that he found most of it ridiculous.

As Toshiro was about to say something, his pager beeped. He took it out and flipped it open. 'It's just a regular hollow,' he thought.

He looked up so that he could apologize to the girl but found her staring off into the city. She had the look of one who was in deep thought and trouble.

His pager beeped again and he scowled. 'I'm the only one near it.'

Without a good bye, he ran off to the opposite direction which earned him some faraway shouts of disappointment. The only thing that caught his ears was when a boy shouted where they usually practiced.

The hollow was easy to kill, like he figured it would be.

'Matsumoto better not be off shopping somewhere.' Toshiro thought with a scowl, placing hyourinmaru back into its shaft.

He headed towards Inoues house and hopped onto the rooftop, not really in the mood to be forced into eating the weird things she considered food.

He looked up at the stars while lying on the rooftop and sighed with fascination. 'Soul Society never has stars like these.'

He was about to drift to sleep when an annoying voice came in.

"Captain, you missed out on the food Orihime made for us! Where were anyways?" Rangiku asked.

Toshiro growled and stood up. "It's none of your concern." And with that, he entered the house and slept on the couch.

His last thoughts before he drifted to sleep were of the gray eyed girl he met earlier. 'I have to know her name.'

The next day, around the same time as last time, Toshiro went out and wondered towards the hill that had the railing on it.

'I hope she's not there.' Toshiro thought, now coming closer to the hill.

No, it wasn't that she was annoying; it was just that he wouldn't know how to face her. Even though he knew she was not the same girl he had memories of when he was alive, he still had that feeling of losing his tongue when he was around her.

Finally reaching the hill, he jumped over the railing and leaned on it. The sun was now starting to set and his eyes softened.

Beep.

Beep.

His eye twitched as he took out his pager and learned that the message was sent by Rangiku. "Lousy lieutenant." he cursed, furiously typing into the keyboard and not noticing the footsteps that were drawing nearer. He only noticed when she called out his name.

"Toshiro!"

When she called out for his name, he realized that he didn't want to correct her by telling her to call him Hitsugaya. He actually like the way his name came out of her lips. It was... soothing.

"You again?" he asked a bit blunter than he meant and not once stopping his text. This was what he meant when he hoped that she wasn't there. When he talked to her, it would always come out in a way that made you think he wanted to push her away.

"Yea, hey, why didn't you come to soccer practice?" she asked, trying to catch her breath from all the running.

"Look, I never said that I was going to help you. Besides, I really don't have the time." That was the truth. How was he supposed to play soccer with a human when he had a job to do? This was a mission, not a vacation.

"C'mon, you're in grade school. What are you busy doing that you don't have the time for?" she asked.

"Just go away." he urged. He knew that if she kept asking him questions that he would eventually give in. He didn't want that.

"Hey why do you keep coming here to the same spot, do you live nearby or something?" she asked, ignoring his plea to go away.

"Not really." he stated, eventually stopping his text and looking up at the sunset. "I like to come here because this is the best view of the sky. It brings back, a lot of memories," he said, remembering the time when he was talking to Momo about the girl he used to be friends with when he was alive.

"Hm, memories? How old are you anyway?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"That doesn't concern you." he scowled, jumping over the rail and heading the opposite direction as her.

Beep, beep, beep.

He flipped open his pager and saw a hollow attack. Closing it, he proceed in running after it but stopped when Karin grabbed his arm.

His eyes widened in shock when he felt her touch. It was her soul that he felt. She was reincarnated into this girl in front of him.

"No wait, don't go over there." she warned. "It's Uh, how should I put this? I'm sensing something bad in that direction." she said, letting go of his arm and fidgeting a bit, trying to avoid his eyes at all cost.

'Could it be that she,' his pager beeped again and he looked at it. 'Someone defeated the hollow.'

"What's going on, Toshiro, is something wrong?"

"No, no, it's nothing at all." he said, closing the pager and slipping it into his jeans.

"But you're going to be there tomorrow right?" she asked.

Toshiro sighed. "Who knows," and with that, he left.

Toshiro didn't bother to look at the sunset this time. Instead, he went to the spot where he remembered the humans practiced soccer at.

He was on the rooftop of a house near by staring down at them. Well, not exactly them, more like her. She was a good soccer player he noted.

But the more he stared at her, the more he couldn't help but see her as the friend that he had once played soccer with when he was alive. Like come on, her soul is in this girl. This is her reincarnated form! She has the same dazzling eyes that he adored so much and her determination, her determination hit the perfection point. Hell, this girl probably even went beyond his friend's determination.

His thoughts would have gone further but it was rudely interrupted by his sorry excuse for a lieutenant.

"Captain," she sang. "Hi, are you stalking someone?" she asked. Yea, that's the first thing that comes to her mind.

Toshiro sighed. He didn't even want to know what thoughts were going through her mind. "No, I'm just curious about something down there," he said, watching as the dark haired girl commanded the group of boys on what to do. 'Like a Captain.' he thought with a slight smirk that quickly vanished.

Rangiku looked to where her captain was staring and a small gasp escaped her lips. "Captain, you're interested in a girl from the world of the living?"

Again, Toshiro sighed, this time with a small blush. "No, of course not! That's not it," he said, trying to wave her off.

It then turned to the point where she started teasing him that he was forced to pick himself up and leave the matchmaker alone in her own world.

Of course he didn't care whether the girl's team won or lost. He didn't care at all. Well, that's what he told himself as he made his way towards the soccer field. 'I'm just going so I can find out her name,' he thought, forcing himself to believe it.

It was after he had left Rangiku alone that it had occurred to him that he didn't know this humans name. He had thought about ways to approach her but nothing came up. He had one idea about asking her the following day but crossed it out of his list when he remembered that that was the day he planned on going back to the soul society. 'This is probably my only chance.'

He was getting near the soccer field when he heard one of the male humans call out for him. The playing stopped and they all started surrounding him.

"You're late." the gray eyed girl said sternly.

Toshiro leaned on one of the goal posts and crossed his arms over his chest. "How could I be late if I never said I was even coming? Besides, I didn't come here to play soccer with you guys-"

Toshiro stopped talking when he saw the bruised mark that was on Karin's knee. "Your knee, are you hurt?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.

Karin shrugged. "It's just a little scratch, I'm fine."

He knew it was a lie. He could see right through her. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Alright I'll play, I suppose you want to win, right?"

Karin and her friends cheered. One player got out and he entered.

The game was fairly easy. Shot after shot he always made a goal and shot after shot his 'companions' would cheer. It wasn't until the last point that he decided to pass the ball to Karin. To his surprise, his friend's reincarnation actually caught the ball instead of fiddling with it.

"You make the winning goal, it's your team." he explained to her confused expression.

She grinned, aimed, and with all her force, she kicked. He was baffled. Instead of seeing her miss the ball or topple over it, she actually kicked it! The kick wasn't one of luck but one of skill.

"We won!" she cried out, pumping her fist in the air as the soccer ball entered the net. "It's all thanks to you Toshiro." she said, heading his way.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask you-" before he could finish his sentence, a garganta opened.

"Oh no, it's back again." He heard her say. His phone then started beeping and he took it out. His eyes widened.

'A menos? 'As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the hollow decided to smash downward.

Worry evident in his face, Toshiro moved Karin away. 'No way am I going to lose you too.' He thought.

The hollow cried and started forming a cero. Before he could launch it, Toshiro swallowed a gikongan. His shinigami form throttled out and without a second thought to spare, he called out hyourinmaru and cut the hollow in half and it dispersed into thin air.

Turning around to Karin, he held out his hand. She took it and lifted herself up.

"Toshiro, you're a shinigami too?" she asked, still looking at the spot where the hollow had once been.

He merely nodded. "I'm not surprised you could see me, but how do you know about shinigamis?" he asked, looking into her gray eyes.

"Because my brother's a shinigami too! His name is Ichigo Kurosaki." she said.

Toshiro's eyes widened at her statement. This girl is a Kurosaki? "And what's yours?" he asked. But before she could answer, Toshiro beat her to it. "Karin."

Karin scrunched up her brows as she looked at the now chuckling Toshiro. "Hey! What's so damn funny? And how did you know my name?" she asked.

Toshiro stifled a laugh at the coincidence. "Nothing, it's just that I remembered one of my friends name and it so happens to be Karin."

"Hm." she said, clearly not believing his story. She looked around the field and noticed that her friends were starting to wake up from the impact they had received from the hollows fist. "I guess I should help them. See you around Toshiro and thanks." she said, leaving him behind as she ran towards one of her friends and helped him stand up.

"Yea," Toshiro whispered, flash-stepping away from the soccer field.

~Their Future~

It was a few months later that Toshiro returned to Karakura for another mission. Of course, Karin was there to greet him and he thanked her by playing soccer with her. They'd play and talk, but his most favorite part was the talking.

Somehow, they ended up growing closer to each other the more they spent time together, funny how those things work. He ended up opening up to her little by little, something that was very difficult do with pretty much anyone else and she ended up trusting him enough to open up too. She was there for him when he needed a shoulder to cry on and vice versa.

"You're like ying and yang." Rangiku had once commented. "Where you're the cold dark shadow and Karin is the light that shines over you." he blushed and later on scowled at her for saying such things. But deep down, he knew that her comment had warmed his heart by the tiniest bit.

Not only did Rangiku see the sudden change in relationship between them but so did Karin's family. Every time he visited her house, or stayed for the night (In separate rooms) he was always welcomed. At first, Ishiin was the first to accept Toshiro into the family by calling him his future son-in-law and whatnot. Then came Yuzu who was skeptical about him at first but then shrugged it off by welcoming him 'home' and preparing him some food since she knew that he didn't like Orihime's cooking. She scowled when he had said that. And lastly was Ichigo, the most difficult one to get accepted by. Toshiro didn't really care of Ichigos opinion though. It wasn't as if he was going to kneel on his knees and beg for acceptance. That was just too pathetic. Besides, he didn't care if he got accepted or not, he'd still spend time with Karin either way.

And it wasn't until they had their first fight that he realized that he had fallen hard for Karin. It took a long time for their relationship to get back together though, especially when every time he tried to apologize Karin replied, "I know you're not saying sorry to me, you're saying sorry to the past me. Because you just can't bare to see your friend hurt. Face it Toshiro, you're just using me because I look like her! And guess what Toshiro? I am not her!"

Yes, he had told Karin about his past friend. She didn't mind at first, shrugging it off as if it was some kind of little bug. It wasn't until he said the only reason he even bothered making contact with her was because his friend's soul was in her. It was that statement that made her start having doubts in their friendship. Every time Karin felt down and he would end up being there, she would mentally question his actions and ask herself if his worry was really meant for her or for her past self. And it wasn't until her breaking point had arrived that she couldn't take it anymore and asked him straight out. Of course, he had hesitated at the moment and she took it the wrong way.

For several days he had pondered about Karin's question. Was he really just imagining his friend in this girl? Was he really using her for his own selfish reasons?

It then came the day when he finally found his answer. He had searched for her and found her in her room listening to music and doing her homework. When she looked at him, she glared. Though, he was glad when she gave him a chance to explain himself. He had started off with an apology, stating stuff like he didn't know he was hurting her and then moved on to the bigger topics. "I'm not using you," he said. "You're different from my friend. Even though you may look like her, your personalities are not even close to each other. You're more violent," he earned a glare for that, "and you're more determined. My past friend had her own personality and you have your own. Even though I approached you because of her, I stayed because of you." After that speech, he didn't know what else to say so he just stayed quiet, waiting for her response. A slight grin appeared on her face as she moved closer to him and flicked his head with her fingers. "I forgive you Toshiro."

"You know, Captain," Rangiku had once said, interrupting his story about his past until now that he was telling her. "I finally solved you." she said.

"What do you mean Matsumoto?" he asked.

"Well, back then you were all mysterious and stuff. I didn't know why you wanted to protect Momo so much, as to go to an extant as to give up your position for her or why you never let people call you by your name and the reason why you didn't act like a child. It was because when your friend died, you decided that you wanted to protect the people that you were close to. You didn't want to lose them and as for your name, you didn't want anyone to replace your friend. But when Karin came, you accepted her. And as for the child part, Karin brought that side out of you too."

Toshiro stayed silent for a while. It had been one week since his apology to Karin and since then, their relationship had somehow become even closer.

"Yeah, like a solved puzzle." Rangiku said.

"Yea..." Toshiro whispered.

"So Captain, when is the wedding?" Rangiku asked after a long silence with a sly smirk plastered across her face.

Toshiro scowled as his face grew warm. "Matsumoto!"

^^ Kind of edited it and stuff :D Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

~This is FrostyNight98 saying Good-bye and good-day to you!