"Explain to me what is going to happen again?" Toshiro stood next to the far outer wall that led to the Rukongai. It had been some time since he had started flying with Bankai, and while it had become evident that the small sub-taicho had lightened up since then, he still took things relatively seriously.

"We are going to play a racing game with the other divisions," Isshin smiled at the white haired boy.

"I got that part," Toshiro's eyes said that he had very well had heard the tenth division taicho multiple times, but either just plain didn't get how it worked, or that he thought the idea was stupid, or on the other hand, both.

"Two members are picked from each division, excluding first division,"

"That is simple enough to understand too," the temperature dropped, "Please continue quickly and get to the point."

"Well, each division is paired with another division, us being with the fourth," Isshin continued. "Each pair starts at the opposite end of each other, and hurries to the center, switches secondary partners, goes back to where they started, then back to the center again."

"I got that too," came the irritated response.

"One can use any skill they want to get to the center, so long as they don't harm anyone," Isshin stated. "That's what first division is doing today; they are in charge of that. Also, they are to give us the signal to start and serve as our check points."

"And I got that," came the impertinent reply.

"Shiro-chan, what exactly don't you get about this?"

"The point of all this," Toshiro folded his arms across his chest. "I think this is your stupidest idea ever."

One side of Isshin's mouth twitched up, but before he could comment, one of the first division members signaled that it was time to start. He reached down and grabbed the scruff of the boy's shingami robes.

"If I do the shunpooing, we will go faster," Isshin smirked.

"I can shunpoo just fine on my own, what are you mean…" it was then and there that the white haired boy realized that Isshin was going to give him a ride on his back and was proceeding to put him up there. This caused his cheeks to flush a bit. "Oto-san!"

When the tenth division taicho heard the boy say that, he also felt a few seconds later Toshiro's small body freeze with shock. Thus, Isshin loosened hi grip and allowed his charge to slide down to the ground.

He then turned around to see Toshiro standing rigid as a statue of a solider under inspection. His gaze was cast at the ground and his whole face had turned red. Isshin places two hands on the small shoulders. "Toshiro?"

When he received no answer, he let go and wrapped the boy into a hug, pushing the boy's head so that Toshiro's chin rested on the man's shoulder. Isshin could feel Toshiro's heart pounding and his breath coming ragged from the shock.

Isshin took a free hand and careful rubbed between the boy's shoulder blades for a few seconds, then pulled away. A smirk appeared on his face. "So Hitsugaya Toshiro, you going to just stand there, or you going to follow me?"

"Taicho…" Toshiro was still in shock, but he followed what he felt were orders anyway. "Hai."

M

Isshin-san taicho couldn't have been even more ecstatic that day, as the young one had openly and non-subconsciously called him father. He had thought that even would have been a long time coming, but it had happened today.

Sure, Hitsugaya had been completely embarrassed by what he had called his taicho, but that just went to prove that the boy had been completely aware of what he had been saying. It also proved that he while he was embarrassed, he defiantly meant it.

"You should think again about asking him to allow you to adopt him," his zanpaktou suddenly hummed.

"You know, you're right… but I'll wait a coupe of weeks until the shock of him calling me oto-san wears off," Isshin smiled.

Meanwhile, Hyorinmaru and Toshiro were also having a conversation among themselves. "I can't believe I called him that!"

"But it is true you think of his as a father," Hyorinmaru stated.

"He's my taicho… what I did was a breech of etiquette," Toshiro stumbled over the words in his head.

"Do you realize you made his day?" the dragon continued.

"You think?"

"He'd rather you say it intentionally when you are comfortable saying it though,"

After awhile, they arrived at the huge hill in the center. The fact that Toshiro had been of kilter when they had started caused him to be abnormally out of breath. Isshin clapped a hand on the small sub-taicho's back. "You did a good job, Hitsugaya."

A small smile spread across Toshiro's face. "Really… I was so sure you were majorly holding back on me."

"Well… if I hadn't, you would have passed out a couple of minutes in," Isshin teased.

"Not to worry, if I had, I would have sleep shunpooed after you," the small boy's face was almost complexly serious, but a small smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. It was almost as if something had clicked.

Isshin burst out laughing, "That was a good joke, Shiro-chan!"

Toshiro smiled a bit, then suddenly frowned, "Ne… taicho?"

"Yes," Isshin was a bit perturbed at the change, though only slight.

"If there is a possibility that my attempt at joking about my body temperature was rather realistic… might this one be as well?" Toshiro's face read that he was quite concerned with the idea.

Isshin at first stopped laughing, shocked at first, but then burst out laughing. He again hugged Toshiro, half surprised, half not, that the tenth division fukutaicho didn't tense up. "You may not realize it and may not have intended it yo be, but what you just said was also funny."

"What's funny?" Ichimaru Gin and his lieutenant Izuru Kira had shown up, the first with his trade mark smirk.

Toshiro just smiled at the two. "It's a secret."

Isshin's eyes sparkled as Kira shunpooed over to feel the white haired youth's forehead. "Fukutaicho Hitsugaya, are you well?"

"Quite," Toshiro's eyes narrowed at the older shingami.

"Oi, Gin-kun," Isshin was complexly beaming. "Shiro-chan called me Oto-san today!"

This however caused Toshiro to spin on his heals and turn his back on his taicho, crossing his arms and pouting. Kira's eyebrows rose up in utter shock. "Did he… did you

?"

"If I were to say that I didn't, that would be a lie. But…" two teal eyes looked over a shoulder and glared at Isshin. "… I am never going to say that, not ever again."

At that point, Isshin turned around and began to fake cry. "Papa got his feelings hurt.

"Papa my ass," suddenly came out of Toshiro's mouth. Kira's eyes became not just shocked, but dismayed when he saw the small boy use his fingers to make a face and stick out his tongue at the tenth division taicho's back.

"Ahh!" Kira, rather letting his shock take over him, quickly yanked one the two hands to stop the unusual behavior. "Are you sure you're feeling all right, lieutenant Hitsugaya?"

Gin was watching, filled with amusement at what was going on. Isshin then grabbed Toshiro under the arms and began to swing him around, though he only made one circle after commenting on Shiro-chan's good mood for the day, before he received a well placed kick from the boy and a "Baka, put me down!"

Something overshadowed them, and suddenly a large Manta ray like creature landed. Isshin scratched his head. "Unohana, if you had just taken that, you could have been back right now?"

"We took the scenic route," the woman smiled. "Correct Hanataro?"

All watched as a young boy that was older then the small white haired fukutaicho slipped and fell onto his bottom.

"Oi… Hanataro, let's get shunpooing, so we can get back!" Isshin smirked.

"I'm not really good at shunpooing," the boy murmured.

Isshin gave a mischievous smile "Then I'll give you a piggy back ride."

"Umm…" however, the fourth division member didn't have time to protest this.

"Sometimes I wonder about his sanity," Toshiro stated.

"I am currently wondering about yours," Kira muttered, causing Gin more merriment.

Two hooded teal eyes suddenly glanced at the blond fukutaicho. "Question my sanity when you admit that you like a certain someone."

Izuru suddenly has a shocked look on his face. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"Exactly my point," Toshiro muttered.

"Are you ready?" Gin suddenly grabbed the small sub-taicho by the back of his uniform, still enjoying himself very much, and tossed him at Unohana and the strange creature.

"Here you go, Unohana taicho!"

"Gomen," the woman smiled.

"Ichimaru Gin!" Toshiro yelled after the third division captain after he rectified himself. However, the man's grin just broadened and he began to wave.

M

Toshiro found himself glancing over the edge of Unohana's Bankai, watching as all of the buildings flew beneath them. The fourth division captain smiled at him. "The thrill of flight is exhilarating, isn't t lieutenant Hitsugaya?"

"Yes… I've experienced it for short periods of time, before my Bankai broke apart on me. This though, is amazing." Toshiro though, turned to her, his eyes saying he had just said something he shouldn't have.

"You know, it is complexly all right, every once in awhile, to take joy in things," the woman smiled at him kindly.

"That isn't what I was worried about…" the young lieutenant turned his head away from her. "Isshin-san taicho told me not to tell anyone that I can do that."

"You mean Bankai? What we're riding on now isn't my Bankai you know," the woman's emotions didn't change, but the shame on the on the small boy's face hadn't either. "Let me guess, he told you captain Kurotsuchi might experiment on you?"

"No… he actually found out at the same time taicho and third captain did," Toshiro gave the woman a funny look. "It was an order from my taicho, so I listened. It wasn't as if anyone needed to know anyways."

"Well, it won't matter unless a captaincy position opens up. How did your taicho react to your being able to fly?"

"Well… he had to rescue me when my Bankai fell apart… so at the time, he wasn't really happy with me," the boy went back to looking at the ground below.

"This does explain the times you've been brought to my division," the woman smiled. "If you don't mind, I would like to be present when you practice from now on, in case of a medical emergency. Understood?"

"Hai… taicho already insists on being there do to the flying incident," Toshiro commented sheepishly, tickling Unohana's strange creatures back.

"Do you blame him?" she asked.

"Not really…" the small boy responded, then moved to sit next to her. "I was kind of not thinking at the time. You won't tell him you found out?"

"Actually," came another gentle look, "I had already figured this was likely and spoke to the general about my concerns. Your taicho was told this by Yamamoto."

"So I worried for not earlier?" Toshiro let out a sigh, then a yawn.

"Not really, there are reasons you shouldn't tell just anyone," Unohana couldn't help but like the small fukutaicho.

M

When Unohana arrived back at the huge hill, Hitsugaya Toshiro had fallen asleep, as had the young one she had chosen from her division. "I thought that there would have been more showing up for this."

Gin took Toshiro from her arms so that Isshin could slip Hanataro off his back for her. He gave a half smile. "Shiro-chan will probably be getting onto me about this being my worst idea ever."

Kira then began to list off the divisions not there. "Second division captain Soifon had an argument with her second on the way here. Aizen taicho said he as busy, and when Abarai-san told Hinamori-san he would go instead, she decided she didn't want to come."

Isshin had to shake his head at Momo's idolization of the man, but let Kira continue. "Sixth division thought that it was a mute point as they are still without a lieutenant and his sister Rukia is of another division. No one knows where eleventh got to, and twelfth's captain said…"

Gin laughed at the embarrassed look on his second's face. "He said 'Suck my ass' and decided not to show."

"Are you sure that is what he said exactly?" Unohana gave Gin the eye, but he didn't flinch and continued smiling.

"As for the thirteenth," Kyoraku muttered as he drank his sake. "He was rather looking forward to this, but had one of his episodes and apologized for not being able to make it."

"And ninth division's captain said he felt that this was childish and was not at all surprised Ichimaru Gin participated," the seventh captain spoke up. "I had hoped he would join us for the picnic afterwards."

"You didn't bring anyone?" Unohana asked.

"No… they are still offset of me," came his reply.

"My second's crashed, so I think I'll be heading back with him. This was rather a flop," Isshin sighed.

"I'll go with, since I'm already carrying him," Gin smiled.

Nanao then hurried through the picnic things to make three batches of food up. "I shan't have my efforts here put to waste. And tell Ran-chan that if she wanted any, she should have shown up. Top one's for Hitsugaya, don't tell him I put in more sweets then the others. Bottom one is for third taicho, as it has what is hopefully plenty of dried persimmons."

"Arigotto, Nanao-chan," Isshin smiled.

Kyoraku frowned. "How come he can get away with calling you Nanao-chan?"

"He isn't being a pervert when he says it," came the reply.

Isshin shook his head, taking the boxes from her and began walking back to his division. "You seem to have taken a liking to the child Gin.:

"He's kind of what I imagine myself to be if… certain things hadn't happened," the third division taicho's normal grin suddenly faded.

"Are you all right, Gin-kun?" Isshin asked.

"You know Aizen's up to something, and you know I am helping him. Why is it that you are sill kind to me? Aren't you worried this will cause harm to your second or third seats?" Gin suddenly asked.

"Because… you ask questions like Shiro-chan does," Isshin stated. "I think that, if Aizen had been allowed to put his claws into Hitsugaya like he has with you, Toshiro would be in the same boat, and it is rather out of people's control, isn't it?"

"Is it, Isshin-san?" Gin glanced at the ground. "I know captain-captain missions to the living world are extremely rare, but I think I need to talk to you. If we could both volunteer for the next one…"

"Are you planning on turning?" Isshin became a bit hopeful.

"Well… I can't say here," Ichimaru stated. "But…"

Right at that point in time, Kenpachi crashed through the wall, Yachiru on his back. "Yay! We're getting closer!"

"Are you sure?" the eleventh division captain asked.

"That way!" the small girl smiled, and they then hurried off.

"So that's where they were…" Gin murmured, taken by surprise.

"I get the feeling that I am not going to be allowed to do this particular event again," Isshin then glanced over at Toshiro. "He's still asleep after that?'

"Yup," Gin's smile suddenly returned.