Toshiro found himself released from the hospital soon after his conversation with Aizen. He found himself stuck with his limo driver watching him when Aizen wasn't around. The man never said a word to him and he felt majorly alone. It didn't help that no matter what he did he couldn't communicate with his zampaktuo anymore.

He tried occupying his time until he went back to school. The problem came from the fact that no matter what book he picked up he couldn't get into reading said book. This was even true with the ones he considered his favorites. "Some father Aizen is. If this is how a father is supposed to be then I never want to have kids because I don't want them to go through this."

His teal eyes looked up at the ceiling dully as his arms were spread out to the side. His wrists ached from the cuts he had applied to them. "How can I have cut myself if this is just imaginary? If Hyorinmaru was still around I could get an answer from him. Truth of the matter is, I am tired fighting this reality. It is mentally draining."

A knock came on his bedroom door and he sat up as the door opened and the person watching him glanced in. The boy simply stood up and walked out of the room knowing that this was an indication at this point in time that Aizen had come home as the man stood there rather then simply walking in for a few seconds to make sure the boy wasn't trying to kill himself again.

He moved to sit down at the kitchen table while he watched the man leave and Aizen begin to work in the kitchen. The man had replaced the set of knives that Toshiro had used upon himself. A chopping sound could be heard and Aizen said nothing to him. The white haired child leaned forward and rested his head upon his arms.

A sizzling sound could be heard as the food was placed into the pan and the silence continued. "You haven't spoken to me very much."

"If you are worried about me being angry with you, I'm not angry. I'm just very disappointed. I am very lucky that this didn't get leaked to the media." The man continued to cook the food as the boy watched.

"That wouldn't happen to be because your afraid of your good reputation and honor getting ruined." Toshiro's words came out in a dull fashion.

The man looked up through his glasses and stared at the boy. "I know I got angry and said that what you didn't wasn't honorable the other day. I never talked about you dishonoring me."

"You might as well have said it." The boy folded up his legs and glanced at the table.

Aizen came over then setting plates of food on the table. "The reason I am worried about this getting on the news is because I know that the media outlets can be cruel... much crueler then those bullies at school. You are going back to school tomorrow. Kurosaki let me know that his sister will be coming back to school too so you'll have a friend to back you up. Your aunt is also going to keep an eye on things as are the other teachers."

Toshiro simply picked at his food. "I'm not really hungry."

"Lack of appetite is a sign of depression." The man stated eating his food carefully.

"It is?" The white haired boy pushed the plate away. "I guess I'm depressed then. Nothing either one of us can do about that." The boy got up and walked into the other room and flopped onto his bed. He probed his mind for signs that Hyorinmaru was somewhere in his head. Truth was he couldn't even go into his inner world.

M

The next day the white haired boy got up out of bed and got ready for school. He let the limo driver take him to school. He then walked into the building with the backpack his aunt had retrieved for him. Yet again he felt stares on him and was not surprised to find other students staring at him as he came into the classroom.

Walking over to where his desk was, he found that a brand new replaced the defaced one. He sat down and placed his bag over the notch and then glanced out the window in an attempt to ignore his fellow classmates. Toshiro waited for the comments to come and mentally braced himself for more of the same that he had gotten the other day. It took awhile this time, but someone broke the silence.

"Hitsugaya-kun's wrists are bandaged."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he hated us after all the things we said about him."

"How do we know that what we are hearing now is true or not."

The boy continued to glance out the window. "I am not sure what I am to say to these people. I am not sure I even want to defend myself to people who easily believed what they were told."

For some reason the room had fallen shut again and Toshiro could hear footsteps coming towards him. "Aren't you going to stand up for yourself Toshiro? You know as well as I that I can't be around to save your butt all the time."

Two teal eyes glanced up dully at the person but brightened upon seeing the familiar face. The corner of his mouth suddenly twisted up. "Kurosaki?"

"Don't Kurosaki me." The black haired girl snapped causing the preteen to flinch. "I've told you before that it is Karin. And don't add any sort of suffix to it."

"Gomenasai." The boy glanced around the room. He frowned and glanced at the other students who were staring at him as if he had grown a horn in the middle of his forehead.

"Why did you have to do that to yourself Toshiro?" Karin placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Two teal eyes looked around again, then turned back to the front of the desk. "Could we talk about this later when it is just the two of us? Though I don't know if you would believe me when I tell you."

The girl let out a deep sigh and then sat down in the desk next to him. Toshiro couldn't recall if it had been empty or not before. Then again, his mind had been preoccupied. "Don't listen to what the other kids say. Jinta was just jealous of the fact your the star soccer player and the fact your aunt pushes you the hardest because she expects the most out of you and not the other players."

"If I am not to listen to what the other kids say then I shouldn't dignify then with a response?" The question came up due to him wondering what he was supposed to do in this situation. "I always ignored the bullies in the Rukongai."

"I see that was your tactic." Karin then turned to her fellow classmates. "What exactly have people been saying about Hitsugaya Toshiro since I've been gone."

One of the girls in the class began to squirm. "We found out that the soccer teacher was his aunt and that she wasn't having... what is the word for it... but nothing bad was happening."

"She is his aunt. I've known that for some time."

"Some of the other students have been saying he's been cheating on the tests."

"He wouldn't have a tutor specifically to give him harder work outside of class then." Karin shook her head at the kids while Toshiro simply turned his head to look at her.

"Karin is the same as she is in the other world so far."

"Some of us girls have been wondering..." One of the females paused. Another nudged her while some of the boys glared more daggers at Toshiro. The boy didn't notice a difference in the looks though. "Some of the boys have been saying that Hitsugaya-kun is gay."

"Why did a question like that come up?" Karin turned towards her friend. "I think this is a question you are better off answering because they won't believe me unless it comes from your mouth"

There came no response as the white haired boy continued to look at the black haired female. Said female then took a book from her bag and hit him on the head. A hand began to rub through white hair. "What was that for?"

"You weren't paying attention to the question at all." The girl shook her head.

"What question?" Two teal eyes blinked in confusion.

"Hitsugaya-kun..." Another girl spoke up as she began to fidget. "Is there a girl you like?"

"Isn't... that question a little personal? And what does this have to do with the other things that people were worried about? I mean, this is on a different path then what people were saying before, which was..." The boy paused for a few minutes. "Having people say untrue things about you rather then asking isn't fun."

"Well... he said that you were... umm... when we started talking about how..." The female continued to fidget.

"You guys started to crush on Toshiro. That moron Jinta found out and got jealous and the first negative thing that everyone heard was that he was gay. And then it..." Karin found herself interupted.

"But... a lot of the guys assumed that he was gay because he refused to change in front of them." One of the girls piped up.

"I likely refused to change in front of them for the same reason it is impossible for anyone to have a crush on me. My eye and hair color is a freak of nature as is my lack of height." Toshiro turned to look at the front of the classroom. However, as he did so he suddenly found said group of girls suddenly gushing words of praise upon him trying to tell him he was wrong causing his cheeks to flush a bit.

Two teal eyes turned to look at them horrified, the preteens mouth hanging open in complete shock. "What the hell is up with this? Why is Aizen trying this kind of tactic this time? Flattering me with false praises?"

Karin though interrupted the girls. "Do you really think flattering him with praise is going to cheer him up after what happened? If you liked him so much why did you let Jinta treat him the way he did?" She then turned towards Toshiro. "While it is true that your hair and eye color aren't normal, that doesn't mean they're ugly. Think of it like the tigers that have white and black stripes instead of orange and black."

The boy paused staring at her for a few seconds completely baffled. "She's just like Karin is in the other world. What I don't understand though is why Aizen is trying to butter me up."

The girl let out a deep sigh. "I know that you are on this kick that this world is some illusion your dad has cooked up for you... I've read your stories and find them interesting... but I am the last person who would try and butter up. I am telling you the truth. I mean, my brother's hair color isn't exactly normal either. Do you think he's ugly?"

Toshiro simply stated at her only to have a book hit his head again. "What did you say?"

Karin carefully repeated her words to him and then turned her head away. "I don't know why I bothered telling you this when you won't believe a word I said due to the fact you don't think this is reality."

"While I don't believe this is reality, your logic is sound so I find it believable." The boy glanced away as his cheeks flushed up. "What the hell is wrong with me? I'm supposed to not be enjoying this world that was set up for me. I mean, why would Aizen dangle this kind of stuff in front of me."