~ Light Of Hope ~ (A Toushiro Hitsugaya Fanfic)

3. " New Beginning "

It didn't even take five minutes for Yuuki to be disturbed in her well needed rest as two suspicious looking men approach her.

"Hey there little girl are you lost?", a man, clad in black asked.

This prompted the young child to open her eyes and looks up at them. She instantly knew they were trouble and tries to think of a way to escape.

"You can come with us we'll help you return back home.", the other one said.

He stretches his hand towards her but Yuuki flinched and steps away from them. Seeing this, the man grabs her by the arm but she kicked a wobbly stack of boxes and fell on top of them. Seizing the opportunity to escape, she immediately ran as fast as she could and blends in with the crowd. She almost got away but the man in black noticed her.

While running, she looks back to check if she was still being chased but she ended up bumping into someone's leg causing her to pratfall to the pavement. She looks up at the person whom she bumped into. She saw that he was also staring back at her with a puzzled look, he is a tall muscular man with spiky black hair and brown eyes.

"Hey, are you okay there, little girl?", the man asked kindly.

He bends down to her height and stretches his hand towards the young girl to help her get up when one of the people chasing her finally caught up.

"Hey! You! Leave that girl! She's with us!", said the man chasing her.

The man in black caught up moments later.

"Hey mister, hand that girl over to us, we know her so we'll be taking her back home.", he said pretending to be calm.

Yuuki accepts the spiky haired man's hand and they both stand up. She hides behind his leg and clenched onto his clothes.

The spiky haired man peeks at the young girl and notices her agitation. This was all he needed to see to find out that she doesn't want to go with them. The two men chasing her looks suspicious in the first place. But he isn't a type of person who judges people by their looks so he needs to make sure there's no misunderstanding between them.

"Listen you two, first of all, my name is not 'mister' it's Isshin, Kurosaki Isshin.", he said in a calm manner as he points at himself with his thumb.

"We don't care who you are just give that girl to us!", the man in black said with an irritated look on his face.

Isshin narrows his eyes at him and continued as if he didn't hear him.

"Second, you keep on saying that you know her but you keep calling her 'that girl' and not by her name. If you really know her then at least tell me her name first.", he said in a calm and assertive voice.

"O-Of course we do.... h-her name is....... K-Kanna!", he stammered.

Isshin looks at Yuuki to confirm, she looks back at him and shakes her head no.

"It seems that she doesn't know you guys nor you know her. On top of that, she clearly doesn't want to go with you two so why don't you just scram before someone here calls the police.", he said in a firm voice.

The thugs looks around and noticed a crowd has already gathered around them. Frustrated, they made a run for it before things get more complicated for them.

Isshin looks at the little girl and bends down to her height to have a closer look.

"It's okay now little girl, why don't we get you back home? Ne? Show me where you live and I'll accompany you. It's dangerous for you to be wandering alone the streets this late.", Isshin said and smiles lightly.