Characters: Rangiku, Hitsugaya
Summary: Puberty needs to hit.
Pairings: None
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Timeline: pre-manga
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
To her credit, Rangiku is probably the only lieutenant in the Gotei Thirteen who can take a captain whose voice hasn't even broken yet perfectly seriously and with a straight face too (Nemu's poker face doesn't count). That's probably why Hitsugaya and Rangiku haven't been split up even though it's clear that the two are highly eclectic—that and the fact that however eclectic they are, they're far more effective than, say, the likes of Kyouraku Shunsui and Ise Nanao.
However, while Rangiku accepts Hitsugaya Toshiro as her captain without question, most of the others, do not.
Rangiku can guess what the problem is when she sees Soi Fong restrain a disdainful sneer, Gin gets condescending and even Aizen-taicho becomes just a little patronizing. Hitsugaya, she's sure, notices it, but displays enough grace and restraint not to respond, though she can see the color steadily rising in his cheeks.
Everybody gives Hitsugaya flak about how young he looks, even though most of the people who give him said flak are probably inferior in levels of mental maturity to him and age and size is no indication of skill. As much as Rangiku tries to put a stop to it (because for Hitsugaya himself to acknowledge that he's being heckled would be beneath his dignity as a captain), she can't find the source to cut off the snake's head and the whispers continue.
And looking at Hitsugaya, Rangiku can see, fairly, why some might not take him seriously. At just a few inches over four feet, Hitsugaya hardly cuts an imposing figure. He somehow manages to draw an especially large amount of attention to his stature (or lack of) by his behavior during battle, the aggression or which just seems to underscore how short he is.
Not that Rangiku ever comments on this, of course. She's seen how Hitsugaya-taicho can get about his height.
But really… Rangiku sneaks a look at him every once in a while and shakes her head and sighs. If he would just gain another foot, another twelve inches, it wouldn't be nearly as bad. What would be even better (though she's sure he doesn't look at it like that) would be for his voice to finally break.
No one's going to have an easy time taking a captain who looks like a ten-year-old serious. He's just so puny.
In the case of Hitsugaya-taicho, Rangiku decides that puberty needs to hit something awful.