Hitsugaya is generally mature and serious, in contrast to his free-spirited lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. Despite their personality differences, he and Rangiku seem very close. Tōshirō is shown to be easily annoyed by others goofing off or drawing unneeded attention to themselves, as shown when he leads a team of Shinigami into Ichigo Kurosaki's school.[2]
Hitsugaya hates anything that he deems childish as well as being described as something close to a child, such as an elementary school child, a further contrast to his appearance. This is shown more in the omake chapters ofBleach, such as the short comics in VJump and the sand castle contest chapter released along with Chapter 238. He is also mistaken for a kid in several of the omake chapters, much to his annoyance. During the ending credits of the Sealed Sword Frenzy, he is in the human world and dressed in a young boy's school uniform, and Hinamori has to pull him out of hiding. He is overly protective of Momo Hinamori, due to the fact that they were old childhood friends. Hitsugaya dislikes summer and warm weather in general.
It is also known that Tōshirō's favorite foods are watermelon and amanattō. His grandmother even occasionally sends amanattō to him into the division quarters. He does not like dried persimmons, a difference between him and his lieutenant. Back in his childhood in West Rukongai, he was so skilled with spinning tops that he became the local undefeated champion. He works very hard, but his motive seems to be that if he finishes quickly, he can return to his afternoon nap. He believes in the saying "children who sleep well, grow well," and hopes to grow quickly, a wish shared by his subordinates. Naturally, they do not voice this fact in front of him, for even regularly practicing this adage for so long, he didn't really grow in height.[4]
Hitsugaya is usually joked about by many of the other Shinigami in Soul Society as well as by his enemies. Despite these jokes, or perhaps because of them, Hitsugaya has developed a cold attitude toward most people; he tolerates these jokes and goes on with his duties. Although he has shown anger toward jokes, he doesn't take action against whomever insulted him unless they are his enemies, but has never overreacted because of them. The only thing he can't tolerate is not being addressed as "Captain Hitsugaya," or an inappropriate use of his name, as he worked very hard for the title so he gets angry when not addressed as such. Coincidentally, though, he does not address any other officer with their title, only their last names. The only people that actually call him by his given name are Ichigo, who is constantly reminded to address him properly, and Hinamori, who is the only person allowed to get away with it. Hinamori tends to call him "Hitsugaya-kun" and both she and Ukitake occasionally use "Shirō-chan" (シロちゃん) — a nickname meaning "Whitey" (Snowy in the English manga) in reference to his hair — in both cases without any repercussion. In addition, Karin and her friends call him by his first name and they are never given any rebukes for it. In the Shinigami Golden Cup sketches (omakes found at the end of episodes of Bleach), Jūshirō Ukitake comically gives Hitsugaya candy and other food because "Jūshirō" and "Tōshirō" sound similar and because they both have white hair, making them both "Shirō-chan."
During his duel with Gin Ichimaru, Ichimaru remarks that Hitsugaya is the embodiment of a heavenly guardian that would be reincarnated every few centuries.[5
PLOT:
Hitsugaya first appears during the captain's emergency meeting called by captain-commander Yamamoto. However, he states that as usual old men are engaging in their pointless arguments in response to the constant bickering between his fellow captains.[15][16]
Hitsugaya's sharp sense of intuition and keen sense of observation leads him to suspect 3rd Division captain,Gin Ichimaru, of foul play as the circumstances surrounding the coming execution of Rukia Kuchikibecome more complicated. He warns Hinamori of these suspicions, which inspires her to attack Gin followingSōsuke Aizen's apparent murder, leading him to lock both her and Izuru Kira in prison.[17][18] After they are taken away, Hitsugaya asks Gin whether he was planning on killing Hinamori. Gin calmly denies it, but Hitsugaya threatens to kill Gin if even one drop of Hinamori's blood should be shed on his account.[19]
After Gin releases Kira from his cell, Hitsugaya becomes suspicious and confronts both the lieutenant and captain together. He is interrupted by Hinamori, who now thinks that Hitsugaya murdered Aizen and subsequently tries to kill him. She grips her sword so tightly that her hands bleed. Hitsugaya acts upon his earlier threat and attacks Gin, releasing his Zanpakutō and warning Kira to get out of the way (he suggests at least a twelve-kilometer gap). During their fight, Hitsugaya successfully freezes Gin's left arm, causing him to open his eyes and drop his smile for the first time. Upon being trapped by Hitsugaya, he attempts to kill Hinamori as a distraction, but his attack is blocked by Rangiku Matsumoto, who threatens to fight him if he doesn't stop; Gin relents and disappears without saying a word.[20]
Seeing how destructive Rukia's execution is becoming and now firmly believing that Gin is the one behind it, Hitsugaya begins to wonder about what recent actions are fabricated and what are true. Eventually he and Matsumoto are interrupted by a Hell Butterfly, which relays a message detailing how Rukia's execution has once again been moved up to the next day. Hitsugaya resolves to stop the execution and disrupt Ichimaru's plan by appealing directly to the Central 46 Chambers.[21]
Upon arriving at the Central Underground Assembly Hall Hitsugaya and Matsumoto discover all 46 members are dead. Hitsugaya surmises they had been dead for at least 2 days, but he is concerned about the exact time, as Soul Society had been under martial law and their Headquarters had been locked down since Renji's defeat. Further, the 13 seals of protection was still active and there was no signs of intrusion. Hitsugaya then realizes that the only possible scenario is that they were killed before they were sealed in and that all the recent orders that had been given were fake. He then realizes that such a plot would be far to elaborate for Gin to carry out by himself. He then is interrupted by Kira and he and Matsumoto give chase. When he asks Kira if he was behind the Central 46's death, Kira tells him no and that he arrived just after he did. He also informs Hitsugaya that instead of chasing him, he should be protecting Hinamori. He then goes on to explain that she escaped the 10th Division Barracks, explaining that Hinamori excels at Kidō and that breaking his barrier from the inside would be easy for her. Realizing that Hinamori has been following him and Matsumoto the entire time, he turns back and orders Matsumoto to handle Kira.[22]
Hitsugaya returns back to the Central 46 Chambers in time to see Aizen alive and well. Extremely confused at this point, he is surprised to find Gin and Aizen together and referring to the forces of Soul Society as the enemy. Hitsugaya discovers Hinamori injured and asks Aizen when he and Gin became comrades, to which Aizen explains that they have always been comrades. Ever since he had been a captain, the only one he ever thought of as his subordinate was Gin. Hitsugaya then states that he has been deceiving everyone from the start. Aizen then explains his reasoning behind the deception, detailing that he was being compassionate and states that he would teach Hitsugaya that admiration is the furthest thing from understanding. Hitsugaya resolves to kill Aizen for his treachery and releases his Bankai. He then stabs Aizen only to realize it was an illusion from Aizen's Shikai allowing him to land a critical blow to Hitsugaya.[23]
After the ordeal 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana shows up and confronts Aizen who gets away. Unohana takes it upon herself to personally initiate emergency surgery on Hitsugaya and Hinamori.[24] They are found to be in stable condition with lieutenant Kotetsu handling their post-procedural treatments after Aizen's escape from Soul Society.[25]
Hitsugaya is later seen fully recovered and watching over a still injured and unconscious Hinamori.[26]
