The body of the small boy lay in a field of ice, covering a huge area with ice. Footsteps crunched down, cracking the ice as the person worked his way forward, then the man stooped to one leg and bent down to brush a few bony fingers across the boys forehead, brushing away a piece of hair.

"Shiro-chan?" the man asked, his fox eyes opening for a few seconds, then closing. He let out a sigh and checked the boy's neck for vital signs. He gave off a blast of reiatsu, knowing that people had been searching for the small tenth division lieutenant for a few days now. He then carefully scooped him into his arms.

The boy's lips were blue, not from a lack of oxygen, but due to the fact that his body had become seriously cold. He would probably survive this, but not wake up for a few days. The likely hood of why an ice wielder would become cold could only mean that the boy had used up all his reiatsu trying the Bankai, proving not only that his body was not mature enough quite yet for the drain it placed on him, but also not for the back lash afterwards.

"Ichimaru Gin?" came an inquisitive voice. "It is rather interesting that I saw the boy suddenly perform what seemed to be a Bankai on my division monitors. I should ask the tenth division captain to dock his pay to pay for the damages, or just have their division pay for them."

"Ehh… if it wasn't Bankai, then how can you explain it, and how can you say it is his fault," the man smirked, shuffling the small boy was maneuvered slightly under his captain's cloak. As he still knelt on the ground, he began to attempt to rub warmth into the boys arm.

"I don't see what interest that you should have in the boy though," Mayuri muttered, none to pleased with the situation.

"Interest? That is a good question. I guess I like happy endings," the man smiled.

"You are afraid of death, that is what you are. How you became captain I haven't the slightest idea," the twelfth division captain snapped.

"Neither do I," Gin smirked as he felt the warmth return to the boys body, but not the consciousness. He then felt the presence of Isshin.

"Gin… I see you found him… I'm…" the man stopped short, surveying the damage. "What happened here?"

"The boy tried some sort of Bankai, but if he had tried Bankai, then he is as good as dead as a Bankai can not be gotten rid of unless a person wills it, or the person is dying," the other captain stated.

What he hadn't expected was for Gin to push the small boy into Isshin's arms and lunged at him angrily. Isshin had no choice but to set Toshiro onto the cold ground and pull Gin off. "What the hell are you doing Gin?! Toshiro won't die… there are other reasons… I mean, like if ones zanpaktou doesn't want to be in Bankai anymore… I didn't expect this action from you!"

"I think you did…" Gin muttered, his eyes suddenly narrowed. "I think that you've known for a long time what I am capable of, Isshin-san taicho."

"Don't give into it… please! Rangiku cares about you, as do I," the man sighed. "And Toshiro might too… he did try to help Rangiku cover up for when you attacked him while he was asleep."

Gin paled at this and pulled away, as if he had forgotten that had happened, but the memory was suddenly coming back. The weird captain of the twelfth shrugged his shoulders. "What ever are the two of you talking about behind my back?"

"No one is to know that he's achieved Bankai," Isshin snapped.

"Such a horrible one… if it really is Bankai, is not even worth my time," the other man muttered. "A genetic defect, I supposed."

"I can't even tell Ran-chan?" Gin suddenly spoke up, causing Isshin to glare at him.

"No… but I am more worried about you telling Aizen," Isshin narrowed his eyes. "If you need out, I can and I will help you."

"Ne… let's say the reasons that I follow is because he threatened Ran-chan?" Gin stated, then walked off. "I think you get my point."

Isshin narrowed his eyes again, then scooped the small sub-taicho into his arms. "Toshiro… why do you always have to do things the hard way, huh?"

M

When Toshiro opened his eyes, he knew from how weak his body was, that he had been asleep for some time now. "Isshin-san taicho… how long?"

The man startled awake from the chair beside the hospital bed. "A full week or so."

"We'll be getting you up and moving normally again in no time, Lieutenant Hitsugaya," Unohana called from the doorway.

"How does she do that?" the boy shook his head. "What happened?"

"You don't remember," Isshin stated, then got two teal eyes looking at him weakly. "You performed Bankai and messed up big time."

"What… but…" Toshiro's eyes snapped shut. "So your lesson was indeed on of humility. I am such a failure."

"No… it wasn't of that." Hyorinmaru sighed. "You got what I wanted you to get out of this, but interpreted the exact opposite of what I wanted."

"You're crazy," Toshiro muttered.

"What do you mean I'm crazy," Isshin sighed, pulling the sheets closer to the boy's chest. "You expect me to leave my son's side while he is like this Toshiro? I even had paperwork brought here… is that really crazy."

"Hyorinmaru…" Toshiro muttered, his head spinning.

"Excuse me?" the tenth division captain suddenly found something clicking in his head. "Oh… he's the crazy one… what did he say?"

"That I got the exact opposite of what I wanted from his little lesson of letting me try Bankai. I mean, this experience was totally humiliating, wasn't it?" Toshiro's suddenly turned away.

"I think that he was trying to get you to have pride in yourself, Toshiro," the man sighed.

"I'm just a little kid who messes up all the time," the boy muttered. "Go away."

"I… fine," Isshin stood up and stomped his feet to make the boy think he was going away, along with making it seem as if his reiatsu had disappeared. He then listened carefully and heard a few chocked back sobs. He closed his eyes and moved forward, pulling Toshiro into his arms.

"I thought I told you to leave!" the boy half sobbed.

"Toshiro… you may not have pride in yourself, but I am very proud of you," the man stated.

"What for? It was you who thought I could make Bankai, and look at that… I ended up… falling flat on my face," the boy trembled in the man's arms, trying to hold back the sobs, rather successfully. He also tried to push away.

"Toshiro… you did what you set out to do… achieve Bankai. It takes time to master it really. Plus… you should have seen the damage it caused," Isshin smirked.

"Damage… I could have killed someone," Toshiro muttered. "Please go away."

Isshin suddenly let go of him, realizing that he had said the wrong thing. While most small boys would have thought it awesome that they had managed to damage things, Toshiro, he should have known, was not that way. He left the room, not bothering to go back when the sobs came back, knowing right now was not the time to comfort the boy.

M

Unohana loved to take care of every single one of her patients, but she was upset that while Hitsugaya recovered physically, he had completely and mentally withdrawn into himself. It was no surprise that she found that he had disappeared from her care about a week later and taken off on her own. Toshiro's social skills were the worst ever that she had seen for a child.

Where Toshiro had gone, was outside into the fourth division garden, the most relaxing place he had found. He pulled out his zanpaktou and called forth the dragon.

"The opposite of humility is pride. What should I be proud of, cursed dragon! I nearly killed my grandmother! It is my fault that Sojiro is dead! I couldn't save Atsuo! I couldn't save the Shiba family for that matter! I get on taicho's nerves, yet he had the guts to lie to my face and call me son and tell me that he was proud of me."

"Did you just call me cursed dragon!" Hyorinmaru was livid, and Toshiro suddenly found himself being blown backwards by the dragon's anger.

"So… you and I are both cursed!" Toshiro bellowed over the wind. "You at least could have had Sojiro, but I had to go and jinx it for you just like I jinx everything else!"

The small white haired boy was surprised to see the dragon calm down. "So… it isn't me that you are angry at, but yourself?"

"I hate myself!" Toshiro continued to yell, finding it somehow easy to talk to the dragon, but in other ways not. "I am not all perfect like you are!"

"You think I am perfect?" another bellow came.

"Name one of your flaws then?" Toshiro stated, narrowing his eyes and folding his arms across his chest.

"For not telling you sooner, Toshiro, that you, not Sojiro are mine," the dragon roared again.

"I am not a slave!" Toshiro snapped.

"Stop misinterpreting and twisting around what people say about you because you refuse to see the good in yourself! If you don't, you could hurt more people!" Hyorinmaru closed his eyes.

"Then what did you mean, I am yours…" Toshiro's voice mellowed.

"You are mine… as in mine to protect, mine to take care of, mine shingami. I am yours… yours to wield, yours to befriend, your zanpaktou," the dragon stated.

"I don't deserve you," Toshiro glanced at the ground. "I messed up on Bankai Hyorinmaru…"

"I expected you too," the dragon muttered.

"Which is why I don't understand why this is a lesson of pride and not humility," Toshiro stated firmly.

"You are such a child," the dragon laughed. "I love your humility, but you do need some pride in yourself."

"I am not a child!" Toshiro snapped.

"So says the youngest to ever graduate the academy," the dragon continued to laugh. "So says the first ever child to ever achieve Bankai in… well, I don't know of the last time. Most people who learn Bankai are teenagers and above. I've never known a child to have learned it…"

"What…" Toshiro glanced at the ground. "Should I have learned it?"

"Yes… I would have taught you soon anyways, but I was kind of hoping for your body to mature some before I did, as it is my job to protect my wielder, for if you die, so do I," the dragon smirked. "But then I realized, a great lesson this would be. And… I began to realize that your power is still growing, and you need something to learn more control, so here it is. Understand now?"

"Not really," Toshiro sighed.

"Eventually… you will," the dragon laughed. However, Hyorinmaru suddenly disappeared as the hilt of a zanpaktou came through the darkness. Unohana stood there looking at him.

"It seems lieutenant Hitsugaya, you managed to freeze the gardens of the fourth division," she stated.

"Apologies," Toshiro stated, suddenly bowing to her then standing up. "Do you wish for me to return to bed?"

"You seem rather recovered. But… do go to bed… get some rest until your captain comes to pick you up," the woman smirked, causing Toshiro to become slightly suspicious.