Bleach: The Captain Part Two & Three, Toshiro Hitsugaya x OC

Chapter 21: Fifty

Kisuke lead us through the abandoned building, avoiding damaged structure that was scattered across the floor aa we navigated the dark enclosure. He came across wooden crate and fiddled with a loose board until it gave way to a cleverly hidden handle. He worked the handle until it gave way with a rusty whine, casting light through the opening of the once concealed trap door. I peered over the edge and into the brightly lit chasm.

"Ladies first," Kisuke bowed, offering me his hand. 

I held on to him and eased myself down until my feet gained purchase on the foot holds of the ladder. As I descended, I observed that I was entering an identical subterranean training ground to the one at my brothers shoten. I leapt from the final rungs and dusted my jeans off as I waited for the other two to catch up.

"Kisuke what's with the underground rooms?" I asked when he stepped off the ladder.

"It's a good way to train without prying eyes," he said simply. "I designed this one for the visored. They don't get out much, and they needed a place to call their own."

The walls were painted a bright sky blue and somewhere within the ceiling, an artificial light cast down upon us, giving the illusion of constant daylight. Although it looked relatively baron, there were massive boulders dotting the landscape. It was the perfect place for anyone to set up camp in secret.

I walked along the dirt path, admiring the magnitude of the work that must have been involved in constructing such a place. "So that's why there was a barrier put up around this building the second time I tried to enter." I said, more to myself than to them.

"If I had known that, I would have brought you here myself." Kisuke sighed. "They should have been more understanding, given that you're my sister."

I stop walking and considered it. "They had no reason to trust me. You should have just brought me here yourself, Kisuke. Why didn't you?"

For some reason he couldn't face me. "I didn't know how to tell you about this."

Toshiro and I exchanged glances. 

He couldn't tell me about the visored? Something was really eating away at Kisuke and I was beginning to stress about it.

"Kisuke if you were worried that I'd be upset with you and your connection with the visored you're wrong." I reassured him. "What happened one hundred years ago is irrelevant now. What you did saved their lives."

He tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Thanks, Akira, but that's not why we're here. Follow me." He took up walking again, making his way around a massive boulder that was crudely placed in the centre of the training grounds. I followed his footsteps around the side of it, taking care not to catch my feet on the uneven terrain. Turning around the bend, I looked up from my footing and froze.

Kisuke made his way over to a rectangular barrier, stopping just before it to turn around and wait for me. Hesitantly, I made my way forward, eyeing the barrier with suspicion. 

Within it was a man, not much taller than Kisuke. Clad in a tattered, filthy old robe, the mans arms were bound at the front, kneeling and unmoving inside his prison. His face was hidden from view by a white mask, but I could see the familiar light wisps of his hair peaking around it.

"Kisuke, who is that?" I hesitated, not wanting to take another step.

He bowed his head, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes but said nothing.

I chanced another step forward, focusing my eyes on the person behind the mask. He was so still, It was almost as if he was put into a coma.

"What happened to him?" I looked frantically to Kisuke.