Pairing: Hitsugaya Toshiro x Matsumoto Rangiku

Rating: M, for some snogging and suggestive themes. No sex, this is just to be sure y'know.

Warnings: English isn't my first language, and my grammar is bad. Plus, I suck at re-reading my own stuff and correct typos. So yeah beware of grammar mistakes and terrible typos. Also, I'm bad at making anyone in-character, so expect OOCness. Yeah and this deal with puberty. How fun XD

A/N: Okay, this was supposed to be a drabble for my story Seize the Moment but the damned thing got a life of its own and here I am with a whole bloody one-shot. It's probably pretty badly written, coz I'm feeling very very down when it comes to writing right now. Lack of inspiration, writer's block, you name it. I had humour in mind for the drabble this was supposed to be, but romance and some seriousness slipped in and caused a badly tasting mix of stuff I'm nervous about publishing. But yeah. I'll do it anyway. Hope it'd not as bad as I think it is.

HitsuMatsu FTW!


Passion

o-V-o

Something was up with the 10th division's Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro. It had something to do with puberty, Matsumoto knew. Not only had he grown (his nose coming up to the beginning of her cleavage was proof enough, no matter what the others said), but there were several other signs that he was entering the physical state of puberty while possessing the mind of an overly mature boy who knew as much about the danger of hormones as Yachiru probably did (i.e. close to nothing).

Take last month for example.

She had awoken in the office, a wild party-weekend over and done with, to stare at the white-haired Captain sitting by his desk as per usual. When he hadn't made a move to yell at her, or even looked up from his work, she'd laid back down with a naïve hope that he hadn't noticed her awakening. A few seconds had ticked by, and she'd started to relax and drift into sleep yet again, when a shadow suddenly loomed over her. Slowly opening her eyes, she peered up at an annoyed young face. A white brow rose as she'd sat up quickly; minimizing the distance between them. And it was back then that she noticed it for the first time. The skin between his nose and lips had become…hairy. Not in the outrageous, French-styled moustache way (the mental image had almost caused her to laugh out loud) yet not in the natural, almost invisible, way that women and children had. No, it was defiantly something else. He had white, soft looking downs that just begged to be shaved away before they grew too visible. By the time all this crossed her mind, and realization had hit, the strawberry-blonde was bent over and laughing so hard tears were streaming down her cheeks. A very confused Captain had tried to find out the cause, but when she told him he wished he hadn't. The day after, Matsumoto had decided to talk to Ikkaku about giving the boy some advice in shaving, since her Captain's face was full of white band aids.

-

A week passed, and Matsumoto had found herself observing her Captain in order to find out what more surprises he carried around. Since he had been avoiding her out of embarrassment, or perhaps something else, Matsumoto hadn't been able to find out all that much. But after two more weeks, he got angry enough to shout at her.

And she'd found surprise number 2.

She'd been following a few steps behind him all day, being bored and finding his attempt at ignoring her both amusing and utterly cute. She commented on all kind of things, and at the wrong time to put some extra strain on his temper. Such as saying "Aw I'm just so sore! The Captain is heavier than he looks!" when Captain Shunsui asked if she was alright after greeting her and her Captain in the corridor. Of course, she'd been referring to earlier that morning when she'd lifted him up on her shoulders in order to help him reach the book on the highest shelf. It wasn't her fault it sounded like something else, nor was the fact that the ladders usually found in the library were occupied or missing. Honestly.

But as they rounded a corner and walked down an empty corridor in the deserted area of the 7th division, her Captain had snapped and pushed her roughly against the wall to confront his pain-in-the-ass lieutenant.

"What exactly are you doing, Matsumoto?" he'd growled, pinning her hands down on either side of her hips. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, so straightforward Captain. But are you sure you wanna do it here?" she'd purred, winking teasingly as she'd felt the grip of her wrists tighten. And then, there it was.

"MATSUMOTO!!"

She'd stared at him, barely fighting down a laugh as his face turned red. His otherwise so strong voice had broken, and her name had come out more like a squeak. A squeak. Yes, Hitsugaya Toshiro had just squeaked. She hadn't been able to take it. Laughing, she'd followed her very embarrassed Captain as he tried desperately to flee his Lieutenant's clutches.

-

These two signs that she'd come across, along with his change of height (which wasn't much, but she suspected a growth spurt lay in the near future) left her with many questions. She hardly remembered puberty, it had been centuries ago after all, and what she remembered of Gin's didn't seem to fit her Captain. While Gin had taken a rather flattering interest in her body and its uses, Captain Hitsugaya seemed to avoid looking at her and go out of his way to avoid any kind of touching. He seemed bothered, stressed even, and his stoic expression was replaced by one of annoyance more often. The teasing that she had thought to be harmless was now labelled as Highly Dangerous, and she was yelled at twice as much than before. She was used to it, but his mood swings were getting on her nerves.

There had to be a way for him to get rid of all his pent up energy and fried nerves. She decided to drag him off to the training grounds and have him fight her. They weather wasn't the best, but he had nearly no work left and that alone was a golden opportunity. Besides, he seemed pissed at her as it was, so perhaps pounding at her with his sword would lessen the anger somewhat. She knew it would feel good to fight for her at least. The last few days she'd felt the need to strangle someone; tension wasn't good for her usual jolly character. Nothing can compare with a good fight to ease the frustration, she mused.

With some fuss and under-the-belt blackmail, Matsumoto managed to get her Captain to leave the office for a bit of training. He was fuming, but she talked and laughed beside him as usual in a try to lighten the mood. It didn't help, and as they started their match in the empty training grounds he was hell bent to finish this off as quickly as possible. Steel clashed, sparks flew, and the winds blew cruelly around them. It was icily cold, and it smelled of autumn. Her hair whipped around her face as she jumped and ran; sword blocking and attacking at high speed. Rain started to fall, making the ground muddy and dangerous to tread upon, but neither seemed to care.

Matsumoto knew her Captain was above her level, way above, but she wasn't too bad herself. So it went without saying that managing to go unscratched for five minutes was a great accomplishment. However, his sword finally ripped through the fabric of her Shinigami robe and almost drew blood as she twisted away. She stopped to observe him, panting as she shook her head to get rid of the hair sticking to her cheeks and neck. He seemed to enjoy himself, smirking smugly as he charged, and she had a feeling he was playing with her. Well, at least he wasn't biting her head off or giving her that intense look of cold teal devoid of his usual calm.

She managed to cut the fabric of his haori as he came at her, but he had already forced her to get rid of the upper part of her black kimono and reveal the white kosode underneath. The fabric was dripping wet, sticking to her like a second skin, but she didn't take much notice. While she might as well have been naked, since the white clothing was thin enough to reveal the colour of her skin and the texture of her nipples, Matsumoto was too numb to feel the cold creeping up her exposed chest and arms. She took advantage of her Captain's sudden distraction, aiming for a slash across his chest. He blocked the blow easily, but was forced to take a hold of her sword and flip her down on the ground. The fight was over as he pinned her down in the mud, but he sat still - straddling her hips - without making a move to get up and leave. She stared up at his face, arms above her head and hands still clutching her sword. Her breathing was hard and fast, her heartbeat wild and painful, as she took in the look on his face. He seemed so helpless, lust burning in his eyes as he stared down at her, a strangled noise of confusion escaping his lips before he bent down and pressed them against hers.

Her icy eyes widened as she felt his lips move, gasping when his tongue slid past hers and entered her mouth to taste and caress. It was sloppy, based on knowledge rather than experience, and as she started to respond she gently coaxed him to follow her lead. The raw, needing kiss turned controlled and slowly faded into light nibbles. He broke away, and took a deep breath while closing his eyes. Whispering a confession he realized he'd wanted to do long ago, Toshiro blushed as he opened his eyes and met her questioning stare, unable to say much more. He couldn't really explain; he just hadn't been able to take it anymore. To have her in his grip, to see those lips parted slightly as they took in gulps of air, to see her so undressed…to be alone with her again. It had been too much of a temptation.

"Captain," she breathed, smiling softly at those shaky words that had rolled off his tongue. The fear and confusion playing behind his eyes faltered at the sound of her voice, but he quickly retreated from her trapped form with guilt written all over his face. Sitting with his back facing her, Toshiro tried to get his heart to calm down. He knew little of what he was experiencing, and he didn't know how or why his admiration for the woman behind him at turned into this. She barely left his mind, sneaking around every corner and attacking him when his guard went down. No matter what he did, he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Not only that, but his thoughts were so inappropriate.

"Captain, it's okay." Her smooth voice – calming – followed by the gentle pressure of her hands on his shoulders made him relax but the tension was still there. He shouldn't have taken advantage of her and kissed her. And she shouldn't have let him; she shouldn't have kissed him back. Why did she? Was it because she didn't want to deny him anything, since he was her Captain? He doubted it. She denied him so many things – peace of mind, finished paperwork, order – that he was beginning to believe she did it on purpose.

"Kiss me again," she whispered in his ear, making him gasp and nearly jump out of his skin. Her lips brushed the skin underneath his ear, strawberry locks falling down his shoulder. Since when had she gotten there? He didn't dare to turn his head, in case he came too close to those lips again.

"Matsumoto," he choked, unable to find something else to say. Her hands slid down his shoulders to rest on his chest, spreading a burning heat through his body. Her lips moved against his skin, avoiding the small dots of mud, and were all too close to the corner of his mouth when she suddenly stopped. His breathing was heavy, and he unwittingly turned to face her. She pressed her lips against his for a second, before she drew away again.

"I said; kiss me again," she began in a sultry voice, pausing to smile teasingly, "please?"

Toshiro couldn't quite understand this situation. He had spent months trying to get a grip of his reeling thoughts and feelings, he had spent years trying to name their relationship, and he had gone through such intense torture as he fought temptation and denied himself something exhilarating, but it all seemed to slip away as those stormy blue eyes looked through his soul. Had it been necessary? His lips captured hers again – hungry and eager. As he turned around to fully face her, and pressed her down on the ground again, his mind could only grasp one word as it tried to form an answer to what, why, how through greedy kisses.

Passion.

A word found in every dictionary – but he had never felt it burn, he had never felt it tug and rip at his heated flesh like a starved creature. She moved underneath him, wrapped her legs around his waist, and pulled impatiently at his clothes to bring him closer still. The rain fell on them, beating his back as he partly shielded the beautiful woman trapped between his warmth and the cold ground. The mud seeped through her wet clothes, soaked her hair and chilled her to the bone. But he was kissing her. He was touching, he was moaning and he was completely lost. He couldn't stop, he couldn't get enough. It made her feel like she was floating, like she was somewhere else than on the ground outside in the rain. She never wanted to see the fear, the confusion and guilt, cross his face ever again. The urge to assure him – to take what she could before it disappeared – made her oblivious to the uncomfortable position she was in. Dirt would get washed away, cold would turn to heat, but would her Captain's lust turn into love? Feelings chilled, feelings calmed down, feelings went away. She knew this all too well, and he was young, he had never done this before. This was puberty, she realized, this was Gin all over again. Gin, the arrogant yet caring boy. Gin, the taunting teenager who made such sweet love to her. Gin, a man of mysteries and betrayal.

Though her Captain would never betray, his burning passion would melt ice and get extinguished as soon as the water hit the teasing flames. Because there was nothing that promised his words were true, there was nothing that proved he knew what his confession meant. But as she was lifted up in his small, strong arms and carried away to a hot bath and a warm bed, she decided that she didn't care. Sleeping by his side, stealing moments of sweet peace – it was all worth the insecure future he offered with those kisses, those smiles and caresses.

When she woke up the next morning, satisfied with the calm that had settled over them both, Matsumoto found another surprise to add to her list. It had been his height, voice and cute downs grazing his skin so far. But now, as she felt something hot and hard press against her thigh, it was something much more pleasant.

o-V-o

A/N: Um...yeeeaaahh...getting a boner in the mornings, how nice. Such oppertunities, ne, Matsumoto? XD LOL anyway so sorry about the fucking crappiness of it all. DAMMIT where did my good writing go? Geez, I'm beyond depressed. Damned weather brining me down, damned school making me all nervous, damned everything.

Except reviewers. You know I love you :)