The following week didn't go smoothly for the rookies or for any Shinigami for that matter, given the rise in number of Hollow sightings. The frequency of Hollow appearances wasn't the concerning part. The main concern was that the mindless creatures had suddenly started to act in a group which was strange. Normally, Hollows are creatures with low intelligence so working in groups and trying to isolate the Shinigami from their teams before dealing with them. All of the divisions had their hands full with the matter. The 12th Division was still trying to find out the cause behind it, but so far they couldn't arrive at any solid conclusion.
In order to counter this situation and prevent any unwanted casualties, the Division Captains decided to send their division members in teams of two or more, on various districts of the Rukongai. If Hollows were to appear in the districts in the presence of Shinigami, the latter could quickly spur into action, focusing on rescue of the residents and taking care of the Hollows.
Shinigami of each division were notified of this by their Captains and Vice-Captains after this stance was approved in the Captains meeting.
"So we have West Districts 1 to 6, 60 to 64 and 75 to 79 on our tab," Suzaku read through the piece of paper handed to him before folding it neatly and tugging it into his uniform. "They really distributed at random lots."
"We can't complain about that can we?" Matsuri spoke, putting her hands behind her head.
"I am not complaining." Suzaku replied, exiting their division barracks along with all other members. "I don't see any reason to patrol around the 1st districts. Those are the safest places to live in."
"You never know when and where Hollows will pop up so quit complaining and move it." Grabbing him by the collar, Matsuri dragged the black-haired Shinigami all the way to the Seireitei Gates.
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It had been more than an hour since the duo arrived at the first district of Rukongai. They wandered around with their eyes and ears open although they weren't expecting it here of all places. Still they patrolled the district as a part of their assignment and they weren't brave enough yet to disobey their superior's orders. The two Shinigami thought of looking out for the residents, if they required any kind of assistance or facing any problems before they would leave this district behind.
"See? Perfectly safe and--"
"Shiro-chan! Shiroooo-chan!"
Before Suzaku could complete his sentence, he was interrupted by someone yelling... "Shiro-chan!" at the top of their lungs.
"Of all things to happen, someone had to lose their pet!" The black-haired Shinigami groaned before his partner elbowed him in the torso. She then pointed to a girl with black hair tied in pigtails and brown eyes, searching around for someone with a worried expression.
"Be a little nicer." Having said that, Matsuri walked up to the girl, her partner wordlessly following her.
"Hello there little girl." The blond Shinigami greeted, getting the black-haired girl's attention. "You looked troubled. Can we help you in any manner?"
"Oh, Shinigami!" The girl in question was initially surprised but quickly composed herself. "Well I-I can't find Shiro-chan. He has been missing since early morning. I have been looking high and low for him."
"We can help you find Shiro-chan. We can cover more ground if we are in numbers." Matsuri assured her. "Can you tell me what Shiro-chan looks like?"
"He is little, has big eyes and white hair and can be a little scary at first." The girl explained before bowing to the pair of Shinigami. "Thank you for helping me out. My name is Momo Hinamori by the way."
The Shinigami duo introduced themselves before going in different directions to look out for 'Shiro-chan'. Matsuri went alongside Momo, looking around in the alleyways while Suzaku flash-stepped from one roof to another, using the higher ground as a good vantage point. There are many instances of pets climbing somewhere high up to escape from their owners.
An hour elapsed by before Suzaku stumbled upon a little boy with short spiky, white hair lying on one of the rooftops of a house. The Shinigami thought of asking him about the whereabouts of this 'Shiro-chan'. Since this boy has been on the roof, he might have an idea about where Momo's pet went off to.
"Excuse me."
The boy opened his eyes upon hearing the voice before turning to face the Shinigami. His turquoise eyes met with Suzaku's golden ones before he spoke. "Yes? How may I help you Sir Shinigami?"
"You see I am looking for someone named Shiro-chan. Probably a lost puppy or something like that." Suzaku replied before going on with the description that Momo provided him. He stopped midway on feeling a sudden chill run down his spine. He gazed down at the white-haired boy who was scowling at him with a murderous glint in his eyes. "Any problems?"
"Did you really assume me to be a puppy?" He asked, in a threatening tone. "And you said I am short?"
"When did I say any of that?" The Shinigami rebuked before it finally clicked to him. 'Shiro' means white, which is a reference to this boy's white hair. Moreover this boy here matched all descriptions provided by Momo; short, white hair, a scowling face. "So you are Shiro-chan?"
"The name is Toshiro Hitsugaya!" Said 'Shiro-chan' yelled with a popped vein on his forehead.
"I get it! I get it! Jeez." Suzaku rubbed his ears. "Your friend Momo is looking around for you. She is worried sick."
"Of course she is." Toshiro grumbled. "That's what she gets for sleeping in late."
"Dude, you are mean."
"Any problems with that?"
"None. Still we should get going now, given that we somehow got involved into this mess." Suzaku pointed out. "Also sorry for assuming that you are a puppy."
"It's okay." Toshiro replied before both jumped off the roof. The black-haired Shinigami lead the way by picking out on his partner's spiritual signature.
The two males soon arrived at the place where the Shinigami duo had stumbled upon Momo. The girls were already there, having no luck on finding 'Shiro-chan'. Momo's eyes perked up on seeing Toshiro and she ran up to him. Matsuri was about to comment on something when her eyes landed on Suzaku, who signaled to keep quiet.
"Where have you been, young man? We have been looking all over for you!" Momo spoke up.
"What?" You expect me to come running with you screaming Shiro-chan, Shiro-chan at the top of your lungs?" Toshiro deadpanned.
"But Shiro-chan...."
"Don't be that way." Matsuri tried defending the girl. "Momo has been really worried about you, Shiro....I mean.."
"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya!"
"Sorry." Matsuri excused herself, sparing a glance at her partner who just responded with a 'deal with it' shrug. Rolling her eyes at his lack of concern or participation in this matter, she continued. "You don't know how worried Momo was. She has been searching high and low for you since early this morning."
"Early this morning, huh?" Hitsugaya purposely put emphasis on the first two words. "That's funny, coz when I saw her a little before noon, she was snoring away."
"So I slept a little late! Not a big deal!" Momo replied with a blush, looking away from the gazes directed at her.
"You seem to have forgotten that you promised to go watermelon hunting with me this morning at six." Hitsugaya added before looking at the two Shinigami. "Anything else you might want to add?"
"We are good. Have a nice day."
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"Jeez, what's with the Toshiro kid?" Matsuri fumed on their way towards the other districts they had to patrol. Stepping foot on the borders of 60th District, she continued. "Momo was such a nice girl. He could at least make an attempt to be half as nice as her."
"It's probably height issues." Suzaku answered, his eyes taking a quick scan of his surroundings. In this place too, he did not pick up any hostile Hollow signatures. Though that isn't enough reason to let one's guard down in the double-digit districts. There are tales of troublemaking people being told around every now and then.
"Height issues?"
"It's a major pain for boys. Like which boy would wanna be short." Suzaku explained. "Toshiro is short when compared to Momo and maybe that fact alone is enough to piss him off."
"Boys really are strange." Matsuri shrugged, giving up on trying to understand.
"Like you girls never worry about makeup and how your round face looks in front of others." The black-haired Shinigami quickly retorted, before his gaze fell onto something ahead on the dirt-filled road.
"Hey! We girls---Oi!" Matsuri called out after her partner, who used Shunpo to get ahead in the blink of an eye. Wondering what the matter was, she too followed after Suzaku and stopped a few feet away from him.
In front of her, she saw the black-haired Shinigami helping a silver-haired boy stand up on his feet. It would seem he had passed out from exhaustion, mostly due to being out under the harsh sunlight.
"...H-hungry.." The boy stammered, conveying his message to the Shinigami. It was very much clear why the boy had nearly lost consciousness in the middle of the streets. Empty stomach and harsh afternoon sunlight is not the best condition for a human, and especially not for a child his age.
"Here, take my lunch." Suzaku fished out his lunchbox which his sister had packed for him. He had thoughts of eating it after patrolling these districts before moving on to the 75s section. But right now, helping out a homeless, hungry kid took priority. He can always buy something else to eat from somewhere else.
"Thank you.." The boy accepted it, his expressions showing relief at holding the lunchbox in hands. Yet for some reason he did not open it yet.
"Are you not going to eat it?" Suzaku inquired. Judging from his appearance and fatigued state, the Shinigami assumed that he was really starving and he would have gobbled down the food by now. 'Unless..'
"There is somebody waiting for me. Even more hungry than me." The boy revealed, causing the duo's eyes to widen. "Thank you for this."
"You are worried right?" Matsuri asked once the boy ran out of hearing range.
"There are two kinds of scenarios to this. Either the boy is telling the truth or someone is using him to get free food, and maybe even make him do other bad things." Suzaku admitted. "I just want to assure myself that it is not the second one."
The days he spent living around these districts were still fresh in his mind. While his sister did most of the work outside to manage a day's meal, there were times when he had to do odd jobs as well to make their ends meet. Those were the times where he had witnessed the dirty world of adults and how little children are made use of. No matter how much one tries to change things, there are a few aspects that would never change. One can only hope or try to make their own lives better and worthwhile with nothing but their own efforts.
"Then what are we waiting for?" The blonde Shinigami said. "Let's follow him to see for ourselves."
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"You still alive Rangiku?" The silver-haired boy entered a small, abandoned hut which had seen better days. He had his hands behind his back, looking around for the sole occupant of the resident.
"Yeah, but I think I'm going to die if I don't get any food right now." The girl named Rangiku answered, sitting on what could be called a poor excuse for a bed.
"I brought lunch. It would seem luck was on our side." The boy answered, handing over the lunchbox he received from the Shinigami.
"No way!" Rangiku's eyes glittered with stars at the sight of a nicely packed lunchbox. She opened the lid to check the contents inside and her mouth watered at the sight of it. "Where did you get such an expensive lunch, Gin?"
"Good question." Gin answered, picking up two presences closing up on their residence. "How about asking the two Shinigami who are peeking by the doorway."
"You sure got good senses kid." Suzaku didn't even bother hiding himself anymore, since they were caught by Gin already. For someone his age, he had pretty sharp senses, to be able to pick on a Shinigami's reiryoku. Upon entering the hut, followed by Matsuri, his eyes widened. "It's you!"
"It's you! The Shinigami from that day!"