(AN:) I've had this sitting around for a while. I was going to use this as part of my main story right now, but I decided against it. This one-shot dedicated to one of my favorite crack pairings from Bleach! Just so you know, this is a Adult Hitsugaya/Rukia story. It takes place years after the Fullbringer Arc, and there is no reference to the Thousand Year Blood Arc. I would also like to formally apologize if I place the honorfics in the wrong place since this is my first Bleach story using those. Fair warning OCCness and AU setting.
Thoughts in here are italics while zanpakuto speaking are italics and bold.
From the shadows, he watched as Rukia refrain from strangling the young man in front of her. The idiot tried to place his arm around the petite Shinigami, but she side stepped him. Rukia was trying to be pleasant this stranger, but he lacked the ability to understand why Rukia wasn't interested in going out with him. The man thought just because he was handsome women should fall at his feet.
Just when Rukia was about to punch the living daylights out of the brown-haired man as he grabbed her arm, she felt a change instantly. The air chilled as the familiar reiatsu washed over her. The human shivered in front of her while Rukia let out a groan. "Leave her alone." The new comer said a deadly voice. The brown-haired man turned around to come face to face with a tall, muscular, white-haired male with teal eyes.
"Thank you, Hitsugaya-sama, but I have this handled." Rukia replied as annoyance ran through her voice. Hitsugaya arched a brow at her while the brown haired young man sneered at the young taichou.
"Yeah, beat it, Shiro-chan! She doesn't need you! She wants me!" The idiot said laughing. The young man's first mistake was calling Hitsugaya Shiro-chan when he had no clue who the taichou was. His second mistake was that he laughed at the thought of Rukia dating Hitsugaya. While his final mistake was that he still had a hold of Rukia. The man turned around to grab Rukia again only to receive a right hook and an upper cut to his face. Hitsugaya was amazed at how quickly she moved in her gigai. Apparently, she didn't need his help after all.
The petite Shinigami smirked at the man on the grass with a split lip. "When I tell you to leave me alone, leave me the hell alone! Women don't like to be harassed by assholes like you!" She told the dazed man in a deadly voice.
Hitsugaya looked over at his companion. He kept his face emotionless, but the boy got what he deserved. "Are you ready to go now that you've had your fun?"
"No, I need to meet up with Ichigo. Unfortunately, I was side tracked before I could find him." Rukia replied as she glared at the taichou. "So I'll probably be with him for a while. We have much to discuss."
He noticed the challenge in her voice. It told him that if he valued his life, he would let her go, but this was Rukia. He wasn't letting her out of his sight again. Hitsugaya could fight her and win. It was threat from Byakuya, Ichigo, and Renji that he was worried about if something happened to her. All three of them at once was going to be one hell of a fight.
"You should take care of the human's memories before we leave." Hitsugaya said as he glanced around. More people were gathering around them to see what happened.
"Why should I? He needs to remember girls can kick his ass too! He has to learn that when a woman says no, she means business. Said woman is not playing hard to get! The asshole can't expect to treat ladies like that and get away with it!" Rukia hissed with venom as Hitsugaya wrapped an arm around her.
She growled at his close contact. He knew that he was partly to blame for her violent outburst. Unfortunately, the human was on the receiving end of her temper this time, and what a temper she had. Rukia was the nice, polite noble when she had to be, but once she was rivaled up, she had a temper that rivaled his at times.
"We need to leave, Kuchiki. Too many humans are staring at us. Then we will talk about your abuse of power over humans later." Hitsugaya pulled her with him as he guided her throughout the busy streets. Rukia didn't even notice that they were going the opposite way of their apartment.
Her teal eyed companion navigated them to an isolated park. "Hitsugaya-taichou, you can let go of me now. We're in the clear." Rukia said uncomfortably. She glanced her handsome ... boyfriend? Things should have been different. They should have been on one of their many dates. Instead, she was about to be on a receiving a lecture from her superior. Although, she was partly to blame after the incident this morning.
Before she could pry his hands away from her shoulder, Hitsugaya turned Rukia towards him. His teal eyes held annoyance, concern, and something else that Rukia wasn't sure of. Possibly love?
"Kuchiki, why do you make my life so difficult?" She was expecting to get yelled at like Rangiku always described. Why was he being nicer to her? She deserved it loosing her cool like that. But she didn't tell him any of this. Rukia chose to arch a raven eyebrow at his question.
"Dammit, Rukia! What if he comes after you again when none of us are around? You're in this world more than any of us!" Hitsugaya asked quietly. The petite Shinigami was one of their toughest assets, but she was not infallible.
"Oh, we're back to first name bases now, Toshiro?" She watched as his teal eyes started to glow blue. He was going to ignore her calling him Toshiro with such distain. Under normal circumstances, Hitsugaya loved to hear his name off her lip, but now she was just being a smartass.
"Fine, Kuchiki! We'll do this your way. Let's forget all about the past three months right now and talk about your actions. You did something completely out of character for you! What else was I supposed to do other than retrieve my partner from the field when I felt her reiatsu rise?" Hitsugaya tried to control his temper.
"It's not like it was my fault the guy couldn't take a hint!" Rukia looked way from him. "Yell at me! I deserve it! Just quit trying to be friendly, especially after this morning! I left this morning because of you. Then after thinking about it a while, I decided we should have never listen to those damn zanpakutos! We were working great as a team until we listened to them! So please, Hitsugaya-taichou, go back to being the ice dragon that we all know you are!" Hitsugaya the little vein above his eyebrow started to bulge. The temperature dropped to a bone chilling cold in the surround area while snowflakes started to form in the sky that neither of them noticed.
"Rukia..." He warned, but she chose to ignore his growl.
"Honestly, this morning I went to find Rangiku and Ichigo so we can switch back to our normal partners. I can't do this anymore. It's to bloody hard for us to have a relationship and work together." She stated as she hid her eyes from him once again. Her long, raven hair blew in the wind as he studied her trying to determine if she was serious. For ice and snow wielders, their tempers were equivalent to a raging fire.
Teal eyes attempted to read Rukia's amethysts eyes glared dangers at him. After serval awkward minutes of a stare off, Rukia was the first one to break the silence and swallow some of her pride. She should say thank you for caring at least. Besides being on speaking terms was a necessity since they were scheduled to remain in Karakura Town for an additional 3 months. With a sigh, she said, "Hitsugaya-taichou, I appreciate you attempting to help me. I also realize that Renji, Ichigo, and my brother probably threatened you to keep an eye on me, but I can take care of myself. This isn't my first experience in the World of the Living, and it will not be my last."
Hitsugaya let out a small huff before he answered Rukia. He understood what she was doing so he would play her game for now. "Kuchiki, I know you can take care of yourself, but you are supposed to be human!" He paused for a minute to think about his word carefully. One wrong move would have him incased in a pillar of ice as soon as she popped her soul candy in her mouth. "Besides, you looked uncomfortable dealing with that idiot. Friends supposed to help one another, right?"
"Yes, I was uncomfortable, but Nii-sama and Kaien-dono taught me well." Rukia stated as she looked around at the area. Snow covered the ground. Even in their gigais, their high mixed reiatsu caused the normal fall weather to turn into winter. "Huh, taichou..."
Rukia took her hands to turn Hitsugaya's head towards the surrounding landscape. "We may have a problem soon if we keep this up." Her simple touch snapped Hitsugaya out of his internal lecture to glaze out over the frosted land. Ice and snow encased everything within a 5-kilometer range. How was this even possible was beyond him. It looked like he would need to contact Urahara when they returned for more suitable gigai.
"You're right. We'll attract an arrancar if this keeps up." He concluded.
"This is exactly why we do not need to be around one another right now. Our emotions are too high, Hitsugaya-taichou." Rukia said as she waved her hand around. "I'm going to head back the apartment. Maybe you can go talk to Urahara to see what's up without gigais or catch up on reports with Rangiku and Ichigo." Rukia turned to leave, but he blocked her exit.
"No. You need to so we can work this out, and for the millionth time, Rukia, call me Toshiro like you have been. Please?" He pleaded.
"It wouldn't be wise, taichou." She said with a solemn expression as she glazed into his teal orbs weighing the pros and cons of dating the man in front of her. Those teal eyes were truly mesmerizing, but she didn't know if glazing at them was worth the temper of the man in front of her or the mountains paperwork siting on her desk. So she chose to defend her position. "You made it clear this morning to Nii-sama that I was nothing more than your co-worker. Now, you need to deal with the fall out."
"You're still angry over that? Rukia, your brother was threatening to come here, and take you back! I was telling him what he wanted to hear to keep you with me!" He asked in a soft voice. Rukia bolted from her spot only to be caught in his grasp. Ice started to form on his hands where they held on to her skin.
His words from this morning echoed in her head. Rukia steeled her spine before addressing him. "I will be on my way now. Please feel free to do whatever the hell you want too."
"So you're just to leave again?" Hitsugaya was met with nothing but cold eyes. Rukia was so much like Byakuya it scared him sometimes. You couldn't tell if they were happy or plotting your demise. In this case, Hitsugaya was sure that Rukia wanted him dead.
"I am tired of fighting, Hitsugaya-taichou! Please release my hand, and I will be on my way."
Hitsugaya melted a little bit at her unspoken worry. "Rukia, you know that I am sorry you over heard Byakuya and I talking this morning! You know he'd be here in a heartbeat if he found out we've been living together and dating! Imagine the fallout! He'd try to kill me, maybe even both of us, then we'd get reprimanded from Soutaichou Yamamoto for not hunting hollows enough! He'll think we've been too preoccupied with one another to do our jobs!"
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore!" She yelled at him. "We are going to move back to our old PERFECT teams. I'll stay in Ichigo's closet, and Rangiku can stay with you."
"Rukia, please think about this!" Hitsugaya didn't want to lose her for being an ass this morning. He never expected that she would be up surprising him with a homemade French toast breakfast. Weren't nobles supposed to despise the menial task?
"Toshiro! I'm not mad that you and Nii-sama talked! I am mad because you told how you have a natural resistance to my charms. Hell, you even told him how much of a brat that I was! Let's not forget the part about not being attracted to me if I was the last woman in the Seireitei. I know that I am not gorgeous like Rangiku, but you don't have to rub it in my face!" Rukia stated as steam poured out of her ears.
"Come on, Rukia! Byakuya was getting suspicious when you came in looking all dolled up the other day before our date! Then, you were cooking this morning! He knew something was going on! I had to tell him things that he wanted to hear." He pleaded. Rukia definitely was not letting her would be boyfriend off the hook.
"Come on you say?" Rukia asked dangerously. Next thing Hitsugaya knew, Rukia popped in a soul candy and told Chappy to return home.
"Damn her!" He said out loud.
"Cursing me isn't going to help you, taichou. I'll see you later." Rukia said from behind him right as she shupo'd away.
Hitsugaya quickly followed her as he popped in his own soul candy. Rukia tried to hide her reiatsu from him, but it was no use. If he couldn't follow her reiatsu, then he would use their elemental connection. Damn zanpakutos fell in love in less than a month, and they kept annoying the two ice wielders to date until they finally agreed. But the honeymoon period of dating was over all because Rukia overheard him talking to her brother, then she ran off. Got hit on by a human boy, and now she's running from her date. Their lives were so messed up.
Rukia could hear Sode no Shirayuki screaming in her head through her entire conversation with Hitsugaya. Rukia, running away from him is not going to solve your problems! Just because you are upset with Shiro does not mean you should give up!
Why are you calling him Shiro, Shirayuki? Rukia growled at her zanpakuto.
Hyorinmaru fondly calls him that. He is important to my beloved like you are important to me! Why are you fighting your feelings? I can sense how you truly feel about him.
What do you mean you can sense how I feel about him? He's just an ass, who I happen to work with. I don't care for him! He's too much like Nii-sama! Rukia told her zanpakuto. She tried to defend her stance. Inwardly, Rukia was scared that Sode no Shirayuki was going to force the words she wasn't even ready to admit to herself yet.
Shiro just wants you to stay with him! He was trying to keep both of you out of trouble, especially with Nii-sama. Think about all the chaos it would cause if he came here. He would drag you back to the Seireitei, and you wouldn't be allowed to see your friends again.
Shirayuki, Nii-sama would gladly welcome a taichou into the clan as long as it wasn't Ichigo. He has no manners, and Nii-sama always complains about his orange hair. But Toshiro… no Hitsugaya-Taichou and I are too much alike for this too work.
Sode no Shirayuki was becoming frustrated with her master. Talking to Rukia like this would just make the problem worse. First, he is too much like Nii-sama, then he is too much like you... Make up your mind or I'll think that you are just grasping at straws because you are afraid of where things are going with him, Rukia.
Shut up! Rukia yelled. Sode no Shirayuki was making this harder on her than she thought she would. What Rukia needed right now was a way to let out all of her frustrations. Unfortunately, the World of the Living had very little undisturbed areas for her to practice in without calling hollows to her unless a taichou placed a barrier spell around the area. For the training that she wanted to do, Rukia's Bakudo 73: Tozansho would not be enough. She needed at least the Bakudo 81: Danku, which she had yet to master.
Rukia, call Shiro to add a barrier and spar with you!
No! He sees me as nothing more than a butterfly that needs to be protection! I am a lieutenant. I can take care of myself!
Then call Ichigo! You need someone with you in case more than one arrancar shows up! Think about this logically, little one.
Fine, Shirayuki. You win this time. Following Sode no Shirayuki's advice, Rukia called placed the call. "Hey, Ichigo. I was looking for you this morning to talk. Now, I am itching to practice. Are you free to be my sparring partner?" Rukia asked in a hopeful voice.
Ichigo heard the tone in her voice. He knew something wasn't quiet right. "Why were you looking for me? I thought you and Toshiro had a date?" He countered. Then Ichigo thought about it. Hitsugaya must have did something to upset Rukia. "What did that ass do?" He growled. No one messed with his best friend.
Suddenly, the phone was snatched from Rukia's hands. "I'm right here, Kurosaki. Rukia thought I was going to be too busy with paperwork so she called you, but I'm surprising her." He told the substitute as he leveled a glare at his girlfriend. "Have fun with Matsumoto tonight! I heard she went shopping at Victoria Secret. Enjoy!" Toshiro smiled as he closed the phone before sticking it in his pocket.
Rukia huffed at the white haired taichou. Ichigo betrayed her for the darkside. The stupid strawberry was all for her blooming relationship with the taichou. It meant that Ichigo got to spend more time with Rangiku if Toshiro was occupied with Rukia.
"What the hell, Toshiro!" Rukia yelled at him, but Hitsugaya grabbed her hand.
"You're not going anywhere until we worked this out! We endured months of non-stop zanpakutos talking just to let this blow up in our face because on one miss understanding? No, I think not."
"Taichou..." She warned.
"Quit with calling me taichou! You are just doing that to annoy me! It's Toshiro, Rukia. Start acting like I'm your boyfriend of two months instead of a stranger!"
"No! I am still mad at you! Go away and leave me alone!" Rukia yelled.
"Where are you going to go, Rukia? Kurosaki now definitely with Matsumoto to do who knows what. Do you really want to sneak into his room? You may get an eye full if you do!"
"Thank you for that image, Toshiro! I did not need that in my head!" Rukia said as a small patch of ice formed to her feet. She almost fell over. Hitsugaya was not letting the little Kuchiki escape so easily, and if he had to play dirty, so be it. Honestly, he was impressed with how she stood up to him. Most people, except the captains, would be a quivering mess by now. Her fierceness was truly impressive, especially after she took a swing at his head. They stared each other down as he held her in his arms.
Shiro, quit baiting her! She's a warrior not just a noble! Ask her to spar! She wants to let her frustrations out might as well let her have at it with you.
She does not want my help!
I'm telling you to ask her to spar. Make her see that you see her as an equal instead of glass. She will respond to this better than you always trying to save her. Then maybe your relationship will get back on track!
Maybe I should just let her go and act like a brat till its out of her system.
Shiro, you will follow my advice or you will never hear the end of this from me! She wants to test her power limits. Let her! Shirayuki believes this will make her calm down, and Rukia will appreciate you more. Then you two can kiss and make up! Call it a relationship building exercise!
Quit calling me Shiro, you stupid lizard! Hitsugaya growled. He debated his options in his head. To hell with it! What could if hurt if I let her have a go with me? We haven't spared in ages.
"Rukia, how about we spar? You seem liked you could blow off some steam?" He said with a his signature smirk as he nuzzled a little into her hair.
"Oh, your teasing me now! I really should freeze you in a block of ice!" Rukia would have strangled Hitsugaya if he didn't have a hold of her.
"You know I'll survive it, so bring it on my little warrior princess." He whispered as his face came closer to hers. Suddenly, he kissed her on the cheek then he let her go. "Battle positions then is it, beautiful?"
Fire burned in her violet eyes as she threw ice at him making him take a few steps back.
Hitsugaya quickly erected a barrier to seal in their reiatsu. Then he turned to Rukia and said, "Let's see how strong you are!"
"Mae: Sode no Shirayuki" Rukia called out as drew her sword. The beautiful, white zanpakuto in her hands caused Hitsugaya to stare. They both were perfection in his and Hyorinmaru's mind.
"Soten ni Zase: Hyorinmaru!" Hitsugaya called out.
"You better not hold back, Toshiro!" Rukia yelled at him with a smile on her lips.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" He replied with a mirroring smile.
A column of ice flew by her head as she flashed quickly behind the captain only to be met with a spray of ice spikes. She didn't move fast enough to counter his attack though. A spike managed to lodge itself into her arm. Rukia growled in frustration only to see a cocky smirk on Captain Hitsugaya's lips. "You're going to pay for that."
Fire burned within her as her violet eyes widened. Hitsugaya watched her as a calm fell over her face, and the sky started to snow. The look on her face reminded Hitsugaya of her brother, and when that look crossed his face, his opponents were about to meet their death. He didn't think Rukia would go so far as to kill him, but she was going to try pretty damn close.
I guess you pushed her a little too far, Shiro.
Oh, shut up! She's fine. Rukia is just mad that she can't beat me.
Don't be so sure to dismiss her, Shiro. She's at a captain's level now. Can't you feel her power?
Yes, I can. But why are you worried?
I don't like how Shirayuki is laughing. Her ethereal beauty is being marred by a sadistic grin so I would beware.
I'm not that easy to defeat.
Over-confidence is going to be your down fall, Shiro.
Hitsugaya wasn't paying close attention to Rukia until she appeared right in front of him. "Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia cried as a small, white circle began to form under Hitsugaya's feet. He was barely able to dodge with ice column thanks to Hyorinmaru's distracting chatter.
"Rukia, what do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like, captain? You wanted to spar with me so I'm not holding anything back." An evil look flashed into her eyes.
Damn! She's more like Byakuya than I thought. Hitsugaya heard malicious laughing in the back of his mind and comments about him finally meeting his match. Who knew this little ice wielder would give him such trouble?
"What's a matter captain? Cat got your tongue?" Violet eyes flashed before him before a wave of snow fell on him.
"I'm just thinking about the best way to bet you Kuchiki without damaging your pride to much." He countered.
"I find that hard to believe, captain. But let me give you a hint." Her smile grew even bigger as Hitsugaya's heart hammered in his chest. "Don't get so distracted in your thoughts. Maybe you'll win next time."
"What's that mean?" He asked.
"Bankai: Hakka no Togame." Hitsugaya watched in awe as Rukia transformed into a lovely, deadly version of a snow princess. Her long hair turned white while a small crown of ice formed around the back of her head. The once black shihakusho became a white kimono with ornaments and loops around her front making her look like a butterfly.
"Beautiful..." He whispered.
"And deadly." Rukia said with a smile as caused the area surrounding them to reach absolute zero. Hitsugaya showed no signs of shaking, but she could see his astonishment in his eyes. Suddenly, a pillar of cold mist rose up trapping him in the ice.
"You shouldn't have gotten distracted, Toshiro." Rukia said to the ice pillar. Then it started cracking.
"What that really necessary?" Hitsugaya asked as he emerged in his bankai form.
"Yes, it was. I had to get my point across."
"I guess that's the dangers of dating a warrior princess then?" He asked her jokingly. Rukia smiled back at him. She began to melt the area slowly. "That was amazing!" He stated.
"Thank you!" Rukia's thousand-watt smile took him back. Maybe Hyorinmaru was right. All she needed to do was blow off some steam.
"Are we good?" Hitsugaya asked Rukia as he cautiously approached her.
"Yeah, I think we are. You let me practice on you in bankai, and I froze you so I'm happy!" Hitsugaya shook his head at his excited girlfriend. "But we do need to tell Nii-sama soon before more misunderstandings happen. Like oh say, when he comes to visit next week!"
"He's WHAT!"
"You'll be find, Toshiro! Nii-sama does like you!" Rukia continued to chat away about why Byakuya liked Hitsugaya so much, but he doubted Rukia's reasons were truth.
They walked back to the apartment holding hands. But Hitsugaya was preoccupied by millions of pink petals begging for his blood. The next three months, couldn't get here soon enough!
The end...
Thanks for reading and reviewing!