"A friend of Ichi-nii?"
Karin was somewhat skeptical of the silver-haired 'elementary schooler' claiming to be Ichigo's friend.
Although in Karin's eyes, both Toshiro and Ichigo looked like delinquents, their ages seemed quite different. Ichigo looked much older than Toshiro.
'Could he be a delinquent 'elementary schooler' who admires Ichi-nii? Looks like Ichi-nii's fame among delinquents is growing... even elementary schoolers are starting to look up to him.' Karin looked at Toshiro, thinking to herself.
"Hey, I get the feeling you're thinking something rude."
Toshiro frowned. "Can I come in first?"
"Oh, please come in."
Karin stepped aside to let Toshiro in.
"Toshi..."
"Cap..."
Seeing it was Toshiro, Isshin and Rukia were so surprised they almost blurted out his name. Luckily, they caught themselves and didn't fully say it. Both feeling guilty, neither noticed the other had almost done the same.
"Hello, I'm Hitsugaya Toshiro, a friend of Ichigo."
Toshiro introduced himself again stiffly to Isshin, Yuzu, and Rukia.
"Oh… a friend of Ichigo's. Then I'll call you Toshiro."
Isshin pretended not to know Toshiro.
"U-um... Hitsugaya-san... what brings you here?"
Rukia didn't dare be as casual as Isshin and call Toshiro by his first name.
Although they had been acquaintances since their Shin'o Academy days, as Toshiro's strength and status grew, Rukia no longer called him by name, addressing him as 'Captain Hitsugaya' instead. Even though she had to pretend not to know Toshiro in front of the Kurosaki Family, she still didn't use his first name, calling him by his surname.
"Well, it's like this. Ichigo was suddenly asked by a friend to help out at their family's place in the countryside. They ran into me when they left, so Ichigo asked me to tell his family not to worry. He should be back in a few days."
Toshiro said carefully.
"I see, so that's it. That guy Ichigo, leaving without telling us to go to the countryside..."
Isshin seemed to fully believe Toshiro's obviously false story.
"Good to know Ichigo is safe."
Rukia also sighed in relief. Although she knew the 'going to the countryside with a friend' story was clearly fake, like Isshin, she understood the real meaning behind Toshiro's words: 'Ichigo is not in trouble. They don't need to worry.'
"Alright, Yuzu, Karin, it's getting late. Since you know Ichigo is fine, you should go get some rest."
Isshin said to his daughters.
"Okay."
Yuzu and Karin hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't object and went to rest.
Yuzu, very innocent, believed Toshiro's story completely and went to rest. Karin, though still somewhat suspicious of Toshiro, didn't say anything and followed Isshin's advice to rest, as it was indeed late.
After his daughters left, Isshin looked at Rukia. "Rukia, I'm going to see Toshiro out. You've been looking for Ichigo all day... you must be tired. Go rest."
"Um..."
Rukia wanted to ask Toshiro how he knew about Ichigo's situation, as Ichigo had disappeared without telling even her, let alone Toshiro. But with Isshin there, she couldn't ask directly.
Facing Rukia's questioning gaze, Toshiro didn't answer directly, just signaled with his eyes for her to rest and they could talk later.
So Rukia had to obey and go to her room with questions.
In fact, Rukia was right. Ichigo's sudden disappearance to find the Vizard, he hadn't told anyone, so he naturally couldn't have asked Toshiro to go to his house and reassure his family.
The real reason Toshiro showed up at the Kurosaki residence was that earlier at Inoue's house, he had suddenly sensed Shinji releasing his Reiatsu.
Although Shinji's Reiatsu was aimed only at Ichigo, with Toshiro's powerful sensory abilities, and because he had been tightly monitoring Karakura Town's Reiatsu since Grimmjow's attack the previous night, Toshiro also detected it.
Realizing Shinji's sudden, unexplained release of Reiatsu, Toshiro quickly understood the situation. Then, by carefully sensing and pinpointing Ichigo's location, he confirmed his guess: Ichigo, like in the original work, was going to use the Vizard's help to master the power of the Hollow inside him!
Since he understood Ichigo's situation, Toshiro hadn't originally planned to interfere. However, after dinner at Inoue's house, Orihime and Rangiku started playing in the bath and then, amidst the commotion, ran out of the bathroom half-dressed.
Toshiro, as the only man there, felt too awkward and decided to go for a walk to avoid the embarrassing scene. Then he thought of his old friend Isshin, so he decided to visit.
Telling everyone 'Ichigo is safe, don't worry' was just incidental, or rather, an excuse for the visit.
"Alright, Isshin, now that they're gone, let's have a good chat."
After confirming Rukia and the Kurosaki sisters had gone to rest, Toshiro said to Isshin.
"I have some fine sake I've been saving for years. Let's drink and talk, Toshiro."
Isshin smiled.
…
Yuzu's room.
"Waaah... Ichi-nii, come back soon... Yuzu misses you so much..."
Yuzu sobbed in her sleep, hugging a doll.
Kurosaki Residence's rooftop.
"Well, well, making such a cute child cry. Ichigo was indeed a bit thoughtless, leaving so suddenly without a word."
Toshiro took a sip of sake from his cup and sighed.
"Well, Ichigo was indeed a bit immature this time. But that doesn't give you the right to peek into my daughter's room! Toshiro!!"
Isshin roared.
"Calm down, don't be mad. I was just checking on them to make sure they didn't find out we already know each other."
Toshiro quickly defended himself.
"Really? You don't have any designs on my daughters, do you?"
Isshin suddenly looked at Toshiro suspiciously.
"Pfft—"
Toshiro sprayed out his sake. "Cough... what are you saying, Isshin? Why would I have such thoughts? Even though your daughters are cute, I already..."
"Ha! Toshiro! You do have ulterior motives for my precious daughters!! I never expected this! I thought you were a brother, but you want to get with my daughter!!"
Before Toshiro could finish, Isshin exploded upon hearing Toshiro call his daughter cute, launching into a tirade against him.