Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya needed to leave the office, immediately. It was the middle of summer and the hot air made the office stuffy and uncomfortable. Even though he had spent the better part of the day cooped up in said office completing paperwork, there was still a substantial pile of it left. Fixing his papers into two piles for when he returned, Hitsugaya sighed; the stack that he had finished was considerably smaller than the amount that was left and just thinking about it caused the pounding in his head to increase. He roughly combed a hand through his snowy hair, inadvertently making it stick up in places.
Getting up from the desk, Hitsugaya tugged on his sandals and left the room, hoping a walk would ease some of his suffering and settle his mind for the long hours he no doubt had left of not only his own reports but also his lieutenant's. He followed the polished wooden paths that bordered the buildings, connecting some, until he came to the edge of the Seireitei. Outside lay the Rukon Districts where civilians enjoyed peaceful lives. Generally the closer the district to the Seireitei the wealthier and better off it was, thus the farther districts like the Twentieth were reduced to slums. It was a well-known fact among the general populace that the living standards in The Rukongai declined sharply beyond the Fiftieth District.
It had been a short stroll and Hitsugaya turned to go back to his work before deciding that the papers could wait. The day was hot and that meant he disliked the idea of going back to his office more than usual. The nearest gate into the Rukongai from his current location would deposit him into the Fourth Rukon District, which he deemed satisfactory enough, where he could continue his escape.
Exiting the Seireitei, he walked along the road, passing by several shops, when one restaurant in particular caught his eye. It was a small, rather plain tea shop with a handmade sign. A seemingly empty two-story building squished between two other shops, which made it look even shabbier. That was, in itself, odd; usually the shops in this distract were at least high middle class however this one had a more rundown appearance and homey quality to it. Like all the other buildings, the roof was made with terracotta tiles while the walls were a creamy white. The shop had two sliding doors made of woven bamboo in the front and a small overhang dividing the top floor from the bottom floor, the former being the smaller of the two. On either side of the doors were medium-sized windows with little wooden shutters. It was an altogether quaint shop nestled on the inner border of District Four. If the outside of the shop had been better maintained Hitsugaya supposed it would have been incredibly popular. As it was he was nearing the end of his self designated break time and at the sight of the shop allowed himself a cup of tea before heading back.
Walking through the door he was surprised to find a rather wide, spacious room. It seemed a more western styled restaurant with tall cushioned seats and high tables. Adverse to the outside, the inside of the building was tastefully decorated and clean. Looking on he observed the long rice paper partitions dividing the well lit room from another darker one behind it, both partitions extended from one side of the room to around a third of the way in, leaving a sizable gap between them. He walked closer to the back room, his curiosity piqued.
Passing through to the other room made it seemed like he had jumped worlds, and was almost disorienting in its contrariety. Hung from the ceiling were white paper lanterns, from which a soft glow emanated. In this part of the restaurant there was a total of five chabudai tables around each of which were two or three large cushions. The tables were set up traditionally but with some modern touches. A glass instead of a ceramic cup, forks and knives in lieu of chopsticks, and other similar oddities. It was a refreshing mix of new and old, pleasant in its simplicity.
Hitsugaya sat down at a table and waited for a server to come out of the back. He didn't have to wait long, as she did, he made eye contact with her letting her know that he wanted to order, not that it was difficult to notice him seeing as he was the only one there. She nodded in his direction and came quickly over to his table.
She was a petite woman with tumbling black hair and surprisingly blue eyes, dressed in a traditional kimono style top, that went to mid thigh, and a pair of hakama. An interesting combination he noted, just like the decor. The kimono, which would have been indecently short on its own, was a gentle green with small white and black flowers scattered diagonally across the whole garment, leaving only the right shoulder and the bottom left corner bare of flora. The hakama were contrastingly simple, unadorned, and black, similar to the standard Shinigami issued uniform but Hitsugaya knew they weren't because all shinigami lived in the seireitei as per the code.
"Welcome, I'm Kagome Higurashi and I will be serving you" she said, "What can I get you?" she added with a bright smile.
Hitsugaya skimmed the menu that had been on the table when he sat down,
"The Kitsune Udon please."
He wasn't particularly hungry but since he was there he might as well see if the food was any good.
"Of course, anything else?" she replied, her smile still blindingly bright.
"No, thank you" he answered politely. The exchange was short and concise as a conversation between a waitress and customer should be. Kagome nodded silently and left to get his order.
When she left, Hitsugaya returned to his earlier observation of the general layout of the place. He thought that it was rather skillfully done, offering everyone their own preference of style while they dined. It was unlike others he had been to, many of which either stayed traditional or had completely adopted a western style. This place seemed timeless, neither here nor there, a seamless mix of the two very different cultures.
Kagome came back with a rectangular tray in her hands, cups and a teapot on top of it. She put the tray down on the table, carefully placing the teapot on an iron trivet and setting one cup before him.
"I didn't order tea." Hitsugaya stated, eyes narrowing minutely at the girl, slightly suspicious of the steaming drink.
"I know but no one else is here and I thought you might enjoy one of the house specials," she answered, a smirk growing on her face, "this is a tea shop after all."
It was true that he was the only one in the shop at the moment but he still watched her like a hawk as she poured two cups and didn't relax until she had sipped from one of them. She seemed to know what he was looking for and catered to him, pouring the tea slightly slower making sure that her hands were visible the whole time, wordlessly showing the Captain that the tea was not poisoned. Hitsugaya calmly reached for his own cup making sure that his face was neutral and betraying nothing of his tiny lingering suspicion.
Hitsugaya's hyper aware gaze was brought to the soft smile now present on her lips and he froze immediately stopping the drink from going down his throat and unnoticeably spitting it back into his cup. Kagome drank once more from her own cup before announcing that she was going back to get his food.
Hitsugaya was silent as she left and pondered his thoughts. Officers had been assassinated before, though rarely, and he was always prepared for the off chance that it might happen to him. As he reviewed the facts, however, he was forced to conclude that the tea in front of him wasn't poisoned. There had been no chance for her to slip anything in that he had seen and being this close to the seireitei meant that an attempt of this nature would be not only foolish but suicidal since any fast acting poisons would have killed her when she drank it and any slow ones would be recognized by his own reitsu.
Once the thought of a potential assassination plot was out of the way it left Hitsugaya open to letting other thoughts filter through his mind. The light taste and subtle sweetness of the tea lingered on his tongue. It had tasted faintly like watermelon and he slightly regretted spitting it back out.
The tea was good, he grudgingly admitted. It was a nice enough place so why was it so empty? The service was good, if understaffed seeing as he did not witness any other worker in the small restaurant besides the girl. The fourth district was one of the safest parts of the Rukongai being so close to the Seireitei, so what was wrong with this place that no one dared enter?
Kagome came back with his udon, disrupting his train of thought as she set it on the table, steam rising lazily from the dish. She then left him alone once more, taking her tea cup with her. Hitsugaya wanted to know the answers to his questions but he had to get back to office. He sighed remembering the stack of paperwork waiting for him. Placing a generous tip on the table he exited the establishment, leaving his food untouched.
AN~ So here's the rebooted version as of 2019. Hopefully I've fixed it up enough. If there's any other discrepancies you see let me know! Thank you much!
MintyOrange
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Bleach