A Spirited Picnic Ch2 Ficbit – Why Toushirou Makes Sense

~ crossovercreativechaos

“As our resident grouch said, they’re smart kids. They need to know that if the Syndicate does find us, the safest thing they can do is run.” Mao eyed the twins. “Seriously. Run, get help if you can, but get yourselves out of hostage-taking range. None of us are helpless, and Hei fights best if there’s no innocents in range to shock.”

Yuzu swallowed. Karin frowned, but nodded. “That makes sense,” she said grudgingly. “I can fight monsters. I don’t know about people. We’ll get Ichigo. Or Chad. Or somebody.”

Ichigo let out a breath of pure relief. If his sisters said it, they meant it; they’d get help, not try to throw themselves into the middle of a fight they couldn’t win. They were smart about stuff like that.

…Probably smarter than he was. Go figure.

“I don’t know.” Yuzu had a look of sisterly mischief. “Our brother went and got help, and he still jumped into a whole other dimension when Orihime was in trouble….”

Argh. “Promise I’ll try not to do that again?” Ichigo said sheepishly. “But Captain-General Yamamoto said Orihime was a traitor. That was crazy.”

“Orihime,” Karin said flatly.

“Yeah.”

“The girl who puts jelly on leeks and thought the Mafia held a boxing championship match in her living room, and that explained all the Hollow damage.”

“Yeah,” Ichigo sighed.

Very deliberately, Karin clapped a hand to her face. “You know, Toushirou being such a grump makes so much more sense.”

46 thoughts on “A Spirited Picnic Ch2 Ficbit – Why Toushirou Makes Sense”

  2. If his sisters said it, they meant it; they’d get help, not try to throw themselves into the middle of a fight they couldn’t win.

    Good.

    “But Captain-General Yamamoto said Orihime was a traitor. That was crazy.”

    Not least of which was while she was allied to ICHIGO, she was not allied to Yamamoto or the Gotei 13 directly and therefore could hardly betray them. I have no idea why the old man would expect any feelings of loyalty toward him and his organization from people who he planned to kill not too long ago.

    Plus did anyone believe for a minute that Orihime wasn’t being threatened when she left? If Yamamoto believes there was no threat and she actually went of her own accord, he is an idiot.

    And if he tries to say she should have still refused . . . all that would net him is some of his VERY LIMITED allies dead, Orihime still gone, and the survivors might be even less inclined to help than they already are.

    (Since one of those dead people could have been Uryuu . . .)

    Sometimes it’s almost like Yamamoto wants Ichigo to refuse have anything to do with the Gotei 13 now or ever. Which is really stupid. Captain-class Shinigami did not grow on trees and he’s already down three Captains.

    One of these days, Ichigo is going to grab the people he cares about in the Gotei 13, have Sandal-Hat locked them in the basement until they see sense and let Yamamoto clean up his own mess for a change. He made his bed, now he has to lie in it. (If not for his desire to take over / destroy the world, in Ichigo’s place I would have clearly marked Aizen as THEIR problem to fix thank you very much.)

    “You know, Toushirou being such a grump makes so much more sense.”

    Yes. Poor Toushirou is surrounded by idiots.

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    1. I wonder if Yamamoto trully believed that, or if it was more politics at the work. He couldn’t sent an army to unknown place, not for one human. But he could turn a blind eye when quite few of his shinigamis dissapeared (aka went to help Ichigo and co.). Sometimes I think he’s using Ichigo to fight a battles he himself can’t (because dealing with Central-46 is pain in a butt).

      P.S. If Ichigo grabbed everyone he cares… Half of Yamamoto’s strongest forces be gone. XD

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    2. I have no idea why the old man would expect any feelings of loyalty toward him and his organization from people who he planned to kill not too long ago.

      Oh, I understand that one.

      See, he has a natural right to her loyalty, but she has no right to anything but to be useful to him. Great honor or something, anyways, you’re to be happy with that.

      If you squint at it, you probably have seen it in real life.

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      1. Oh, I have seen it waaaaay too often in real life. “We’re in charge, the world is supposed to be X way, you should be grateful to support this even if it costs you everything.” Just as toxic on a family interpersonal level as in an organization.

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      2. Yeah I have seen in real life. Which didn’t make it a less annoying attitude.

        Maybe I’m weird or just too American or too modern but I consider loyalty is a two-way street. And in some ways, loyalty is EARNED, not a god(s) given right. Nor do I think one should take someone’s loyalty for granted – that can lead to taking the person themselves for granted, a dangerous thing to do. People don’t like it when they feel like their efforts and loyalty are being ignored.

        One should honor obligations and promises they made. Provided THEY were the ones who made them and of their own free will.

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      4. A lot of it is being too “American”– there is a lot we take for granted because we’re insanely successful and prosperous and have a TON of baked-in assumptions*, and that’s both the ones who are getting benefit (which they hang around for, even if they didn’t formally, freely agree to the deal) and the people who are demanding loyalty.

        So there are a lot of “leaders” who don’t ever notice what the leaders they’re trying to copy actually did, and just want the power they saw.

        All entitlement, no responsibility; all power, no responsibility.

        They’re both warped.

        And folks who are trying to be honest to everybody around them tend to get burnt by both types. (“Fair weather friends” are always asking for help because gosh, they’re your friends, so of course they need it.)

        * say, if you’re living with people– do you steal from them? Why not, you can. Take whatever you want.

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      1. they’re the sanest ones around.

        He’s probably right about that.

        Toushirou would probably like to lodge a complaint with whoever is in charge of the universe about the fact that Kurosaki Ichigo is one of the sanest people he knows.

        (Some people theorize that Urahara considers Ichigo’s ability to do the impossible as a very successful prank.)

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  4. I am certain that Yamamoto declaring Orihime traitor, and refusing to help was part politics, and part attempt at misdirection, so both ichigo’s friends AND aizen will duke it out in Hueco Mundo, and be surprised when the additional captains arrive .

    I also think he uses Ichigo to fight battles he himself cant due to politics, and turns blind eye to some things.

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    2. I can’t find it any more, but there was a _very_ well done (and long) Bleach fic that went with that premise (and took it even farther). It started with a single PoD, that Ichigo treated his hollow side like everything else: he didn’t hide from it, instead he dealt with it head-on until he overcame it. Somewhere along the line (it’s been a while since I read it), he had some interesting conversations with Yamamoto, and even kinda became friends with him, and one of the things Yamamoto explained was how he’d handled some of those previous things “hamhandedly” in an “obvious” fashion (despite knowing what was going on behind the scenes) not just to sidestep political hindrances, but also to blindside his opposition when they only guessed that first step and didn’t think he’d be doing active stuff as well.

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      1. I believe it’s A Protector’s Pride. Over on ffnet, there’s a sorta similar PoD in cywscross’ Sight, but they go in a totally different direction with it.

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  6. I think the Japanese government needs to send the Gotei 13 a stiffly worded note. Orihime is not a citizen of Soul Society yet, and thus could not be guilty of the crime of treason.

    Which actually leads to another question. The Japanese Emperor is supposed to be ultimately in charge of all Shinto spiritual matters. (Constitutionally, not as a god or someone descended from a god. But still.)

    So although he does not mess with this stuff (it says here), he could technically mess big time with Soul Society.

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    2. Looked it up and it is very technical, but actually he is still legally okay to claim descent from Amaterasu. And he still has priestly powers that come from that. Hence all the seclusion stuff and the rules of his life.

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      1. Possibly.

        The very first Emperor of Japan was Jimmu, supposedly the great-grandson of Ninigi (Amaterasu’s grandson, hence the ongoing belief in the Imperial Family’s “divine heritage”), whose accession is traditionally dated as 660 BC.

        We know that Yama-jii founded the Shin’ō Academy 2,000 years ago, so Soul Society was at least around by then – however, that’s as far back as we actually do know, and that’s still ~650 years after Jimmu’s reign. So it could honestly go either way.

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      2. Yes, but…

        Some claims would put the Japanese Emperors into the BC period. I’m not persuaded that ‘currently considered mythological’ means ‘will never be supported by archeological evidence’.

        For me, the fly in the ointment is on the Bleach side. Most of the historical claims about early Soul Society overlap with with claims about activities of the Quincy King. Which include some conquests that didn’t feel very rooted in the real world to me. One thousand and two thousand years ago are major periods mentioned. That backstory makes it very clear that Aizen’s sentence was not evidence of deep history, but a joke Kubo made because he wanted to keep Aizen around.

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      3. I do not want to be mean, because it is true of a lot of places… But Japanese traditions about the emperors and early early history are a hot mess.

        Which has the fictional advantage that you can write whatever you feel like.

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  7. Imo, Yama figured that Ichigo’s group would get killed in Hueco Mundo and thus no live humans with spiritual abilities. They broke into Yama’s city and made fools of everyone there except exiles.Nevermind the bats**t insane traitor with Illusion Hax and Willing army…

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  8. Mmm… but, try looking at it from Yamamoto’s perspective. *We* mock him on this, b/c we *know* Orihime — the General doesn’t know her from Adam. Or Eve. And even though Aizen appears to have hoodwinked him thoroughly, Yamamoto’s not *blind* — even the “background noise” caused by what Aizen was doing (for decades) would have been enough to make *anyone* start getting paranoid. Remember, during the Soul Society Arc, Aizen’s machinations had several senior members of the G13 turning on each other (mostly in suspicion of “Who Murdered Captain Aizen?”, which must have given Sosuke a jolly laugh), even without using his Shikai (much). That kind of trust breakdown doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Basically, Aizen had most of Soul Society jumping at shadows and seeing monsters under the bed even *before* he revealed himself.

    After all, they had *how many* Captains and Lieutenants turned into Vizards (and then vanishing), within recent memory? Plus a few other Captains either turning coat (Urahara, Yoruichi), or vanishing (Isshin). Aizen, between fine acting and some judicious Absolute Hypnotism, made himself appear one of the Above Suspicion Captains (along with Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Unohana. And arguably Tousen as well).

    Then, Aizen pulls his Big Reveal, and… it turns out, all the people who were being paranoid about traitors in the Soul Society were *right*… but about the *wrong people* almost entirely (extra irony for Gin, here).

    Yamamoto *also* had his two most trusted Captains turn on him, even though it was over a matter of conscience, rather than actual treason. Against all that background… well, I’ve known some people who worked in Intelligence, and in “deniable” areas. When you *have* to draw conclusions using incomplete data, and the costs of erring on the side of trust are *so damned high*, it’s easy to start seeing enemies everywhere.

    Somewhere, there’s a fanfic (wish I could recall the name) where Yamamoto actually *explains* to Ichigo (post-Aizen) just *why* he’s such an absolute stickler for the rules, and why he wouldn’t tell C46 to stick it when he *knew* they were going overboard with Rukia’s punishment.
    The answer was, simply, the Superman Dilemma. There’s *no one* in the Soul Society who can *compel* Yamamoto to follow the Rule Of Law, only his own conscience. And he won’t be around forever. So he *has* to set an example for whomever follows him as General, of subordinating his own conscience and will to his oath of service. Otherwise… well, one need only look at the Weimar Republic, or the various recent attempts at “democracy” in several nations in the Middle East. Yamamoto remembers how bad things were *before* the Soul Society was founded, and as bad as this current system is, it’s still better than the anarchy that (he believes) would result if he ever set so much as one toe over the line.

    Anyway, on a lighter note:
    “Toshiro, why do you keep Rangiku around?”
    “She makes me laugh.”
    “…you NEVER laugh.”
    “Your point?”

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    1. We know Yamamoto doesn’t know Orihime at all, yes. OTOH Karin is working from the perspective of “and you didn’t even try to find out if she was the kind of person who’d be a traitor before writing her off to a dimension full of soul-eating monsters.” So.

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      1. I think once Kubo managed to tie off Soul Society invasion in a halfway reasonable way, he becomes increasingly overconfident and the story develops more and more a feeling of unreality.

        I understand why Kubo needed Yamamoto to do that for story tension. I’m not sure, at this point, how well the start of that arc impressed me. I’m a bit grumpy right now, so that may be coloring things. I have a set of bunnies arguing that the correct place for a fixit is when Masaki and Isshin are in college, getting to know each other.

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  9. The fact Toushirou had never wanted to be a Shinigami in the first place… his eventual joining wasn’t even a case of a changing his mind later on it was literally ‘If I don’t become a Shinigami my out of control powers will kill my grandma…shit’

    I suspect even when Toushirou was a little watermelon devouring gremlin that he knew the Seireitei was full of shit.

    I guess this is why he’s one of the most reasonable and responsible Captains, even before entering the academy he was disillusioned with the whole, Shinigami thing, once he became one he just did his job, no posturing or anything.

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  11. I dont like peanut butter, myself…
    *destroys said Peanut Butter Kingdom with orbital laser*

    That aside, how often does Karin see Toushirou? because if he visits/stops by… it could lead to all sorts of interesting things.

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    1. I have neither evidence nor proof for this claim, but I’m gonna assume that, since Aizen was dealt with? Not often.

      If Ichigo’s various friends in Seireitei who aren’t Captain-class (and it’s kind of funny how small a number that is, given exactly how many friends Ichigo has in Seireitei) don’t have the time to borrow a gigai and say hullo then I imagine as a Captain Hitsugaya doesn’t have the spare time to be checking in on a soccer buddy(/the daughter of his former Captain).

      Granted, Rangiku always seems to think her Captain needs to loosen up a bit, so I could see her making a point to make Toushirou have days off happen in spite of how busy he is. But counter to that, I’d like to think if the senior leadership of the 10th Division of the Court of Pure Souls was scheduling the occasional soccer day, one of them would’ve at least asked Karin to say ‘hi’ to her brother for them, and that does not appear to be the case.

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      1. And now I can’t get out of my head Toshiro getting revenge on Rangiku, by dragging her and most of his division out for ‘a team building day off’ when they force him on vacation. Cue making them learn soccer, and having his Lieutenant in charge of the other team.

        Toshiro then says the losers are buy the winner’s booze after teams are picked. The game that results would make Kenpachi smile.

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      2. Wasn’t Toushiro one of the people who donated some energy to try and heal Ichigo? Which, ironically, is exactly what caused the issue with Rukia in the first place. That, might be why she thought it would work… So, in my headcanon, Ichigo partisans in Soul Society are playing a massive shell game to disguise what they’re doing, because it is still illegal to share power with humans and Ichigo is a gray area, Urahara is dealing with Aizen’s labs because like hell are we trusting Mayuri with that, and potentially Urahara is pulling double duty to make sure Mayuri isn’t screwing his people over. (The Rest of Soul Society can go hang.)

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