Admiration (Bleach Fanfic)

Sweet Natto

A couple of days later, Isshin came back to check up on the four, only to be knocked over by Bonnie as she ran out the door, and then to be trampled by Ganju as he ran after the young female boar. Isshin let out a groan, then got up and gave Kukaku a look. "He's done it again, didn't he?"

"Oh… your sub-taicho was with him when he did it," the woman smirked as she took in a puff of smoke. "Do you know why he didn't stop him?"

"Am I going to want to know?" Isshin stated firmly.

"No, you don't want to know, but even so you need to know," Kukaku stated. "Did you know how much this area looks down on the boy?"

"That he was ostracized, I got that much, but Toshiro wouldn't tell me anymore," Isshin sighed.

"They call him a demon, a plague. He can't go anywhere, unless he is with his grandmother or me, and that is because I give them a look and they have too much respect for the old lady. And it is just because he looks different," Kukaku stated. "He's been depressed and we've barely been able to pull him down."

"You mean he's on the roof of the house sulking?" Isshin sighed.

"I take it he's done that before?" Kukaku smirked. "He seems to have affinity for the sky."

"I've noticed. I want to do something about those people, but it would be disrespectful to him as he's already put in that he doesn't want me involved. But if I find out that, it went beyond verbal abuse… I won't hold back, I won't… he's my kid," Isshin muttered.

"Ganju and I are headed back to the Shiba house. I've thanked the old granny for her hospitality, but Toshiro-kun has been avoiding me… possibly because I made a big deal about the matter. He hasn't been eating… his grandmother says if he goes a few more days, she'll have to bring out her secret weapon."

"I'll be taking him back though, as he won't have a reason to stay, as the reason I got him to stay was to help you if you needed him," Isshin sighed, only to suddenly be knocked over by the boar again. This time he grabbed Ganju's leg and flipped him upside down.

"Put me down!" the boy protested.

"Sure… and let you run all over this house with your shoes one," Kukaku smacked him hard on the head. "I've already told you, that isn't proper etiquette, leave them outside!"

"But he's still wearing his!" Ganju protested. "I mean, he's still wearing one!"

"That's because I was taking them off as your boar knocked me over, and then you messed up my back for life!" Isshin proceeded to let go of the boy, dropping him on his head. "I'll be seeing you two later, we need to be going."

"Not before I give you that package you asked for!" Toshiro's granny came hurtling from the other room, shoving a box into his arms.

"Hai!" Isshin stated, then stepped out the door. "Shiro-chan! Time to go home to the division!"

Suddenly, Isshin felt a gust of wind as something jumped off the roof and landed on the man's back, latching on. He heard the boy's voice in his ear. "Did you bring me a clean uniform?"

Isshin sighed at the hopeful voice. "No… sorry… I forgot. Good thing you latched onto my back, I'll be able to get you through without any questions."

"You forgot on purpose, didn't you," Toshiro hissed, only to have his taicho laugh and shunpoo into the house.

"Goodbye!" Isshin waved his hand. "Toshiro?"

"Umm… goodbye… hey!" came the sharp reply as Isshin took off away from the house and towards their division. Toshiro's grandmother could only laugh at the whole matter.

M

Isshin arrived at the tenth division and allowed Toshiro to slide down, only to have the small boys face smashed into the bosom of Matsumoto. "You silly, silly, little boy! You could have been killed!"

"Mmmmph!" came the muffled reply as the small boy tried to push away.

Matsumoto pushed him away and looked him straight into the face. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine… it isn't as if I actually got hurt," came the muttered reply.

"Oh… so you don't want any of this…" Isshin stated, going and sitting down at his desk, opening the box and popping something into his mouth. "Mmm… this sweet natto is really good, Shiro-chan."

Toshiro's eye twitched and Matsumoto had a confused look on her face. "Where did you get that from?"

"You're grandmother," Isshin suddenly smirked. "You want some?"

"I am not going to act childish over sweets," Toshiro suddenly frowned, causing Matsumoto to sigh.

"Taicho… stop teasing him… I'm going to go and get him a fresh uniform," Matsumoto muttered, seeming a tad bit tiered then usual.

"I'll come with you!" Isshin suddenly spoke out. "Sure you don't want any Toshiro… feel free to eat some!"

Toshiro stood there, suddenly becoming confused, then went and sat on the couch to wait for them to get back. He sat on the couch, the idea that the amanatto on the desk very tempting to his mind, his stomach suddenly growling. What was a long period of time passed, and he was sure that they should have been back.

He would have gone to look for them, but that would mean going out not in uniform, something that he didn't like. He glanced at the desk and let out a sigh, getting up from the couch. He slowly walked over to the desk, glancing at the door to make sure no one was watching, then picked up a piece and put it into his mouth.

That was just in time to have a flash of a camera go of, causing Toshiro's head to spin towards the door, his index finger slightly in his mouth, his two teal eyes to become wide and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Isshin had a huge smile on his face. "I told you he would eat it."

One white eyebrow twitched, a small, short lived smirk appearing on the boys face. Matsumoto walked over and set down a plate of watermelon, a fresh uniform slug across her arm. "Taicho said you might want to eat this too."

Isshin then went and picked Toshiro, causing the boy to snap out an exploitive and placed him on the desk. "Feel free to act a little childish today… you deserve it."

Toshiro shrugged his shoulders, picking up a piece of the watermelon and chewing on it. Matsumoto took a piece of sweet natto and tried it. "Your granny sure does make good amanatto!"

"I talked to her and she said she'll start making up care packages for you," Isshin stated, a smile on his face, only to end up with a face full of watermelon seeds. Isshin gave him a confused look. "What was that for?"

"You said it was all right to act childish," Toshiro stated, a smirk coming onto his face, as he looked at his taicho.

"You like to turn people's word around on them when you can," Isshin chuckled as did Toshiro for once. "I know! Let's have a watermelon spitting contest! Care to join Matsumoto!"

"In the office?"

"We can sweep up later!" Isshin protested. "This will be fun!"

Matsumoto and the taicho also both took seats on the desk and began to spit the seeds, just in time for Hinamori and Takezoe Kokichiro to show up at the door.

"Umm…" Hinamori had a very confused look on her face.

"Seems taicho decided to lighten the mood again," the ninth seat muttered. "Don't mind him… he does this all the time."

"Umm… he's teaching Shiro-chan bad habits…" was the girl's response.