Title: Tat-chō?
Author: abaraid
Characters: Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Abarai Renji, Shūhei Hisagi, Rangiku Matsumoto, Hyourinmaru
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,585
Summary: What happens when 'cool' gets taken a little too far?
Notes: Flashback scenes are noted by bold font. For Silv because she'd slice me if I didn't mention her and truth be told I couldn't have done this without rambling to her over needing ideas. ;* Also this is my first fic so critiques and whatnot are gladly accepted! On to the show....
~*~*~*~
He wasn't sure how he had let them get away with convincing him this was a good idea. Blaming it on the sake would've been the best option...had he even taken a sip of any during their long night out. Perhaps it was the just idea of being 'cool' that finally got to him. He was older now, but more importantly he looked older now. No more 'boy genius this' or 'boy genius that', he now resembled an actual teenager. No more getting confused with an elementary student on missions in the living world. No more turning around only to be met face first with the overwhelming cleavage of his fukutaichō. Although now that he'd had time to really think about it, he clearly regretted not fully taking advantage of the 'opportunities' that once used to 'present' themselves to him. Growing a few feet turned out to have its disadvantages after all.
Glancing over his shoulder as he attempted to get a good look at it in the mirror, he let out a frustrated sigh. Maybe Rangiku would let him borrow her three-way mirror so he could fully see the damage that had been done. Then again she was one-third of the reason he was now faced with this situation in the first place. Hyourinmaru, however, could see it all just fine and couldn't help but interject with amusement.
You like me THAT much? I'm honoured to be with you at all times, Tōshirō. It's always been so hard to tell if you cared but you do...you really do.
"Must you pour and grind salt into the already gaping wound? Can't you go talk to Haineko?"
It doesn't look gaping to me, a little red but it's quite nice. However, the wings aren't as exquisite as mine. Where's the detail? Where's the LOVE?
With that Hitsugaya shot his zanpakutou a cold glare before hurriedly fixing his shihakushō and putting back on his haori. Enough of this. If he couldn't see it he could just pretend it wasn't there, right? Right. Besides, although he was taller he still wore his zanpakutou across his back with that familiar green sash. That could help him forget too. Paperwork would be a good idea right now. All he had to do was get to his office quietly without any interruption from his new found enemies. Before leaving he was faced with the tough decision of whether or not to bring Hyourinmaru with him. He had never left his dear zanpakutou behind before but then again, it had never taunted him to this extent before. Hitsu could already hear the conversation sure to follow in his head.
"I can ignore you, you know? I'm great at blocking things out. It's something you get good at while having a lieutenant like Rangiku" With a quick nod, more to assure himself that was actually true than anything else, he affixed Hyourinmaru to his back like always, making it a point not to show that he felt the quick freeze from his zanpakutou as if to say Ignore me? Yeah right. Try it.
And try it he did to no avail. That zanpakutou of his was persistent. So persistent in fact that it distracted him from noticing the two smirking faces that were coming up from the other end of the long hallway. It just wasn't long enough. Before he could even attempt to shunpo off in the other direction, the two figures suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Taichō"
"Lieutenants..."
"Our new partner in cool! We sure had a good time last time, didn't we?" Abarai Renji leaned in just enough to nudge the obviously unamused Captain's arm while pointing to his own as some kind of hint. "When are you going back? Hisagi and I had another idea. We could get match-"
"I'm not going back anywhere, Lieutenant. In fact I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You don't remember?" This time Hisagi stepped into, scratching his head. "How could you forget about our cool pact...you weren't even dru-"
"I said, I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, don't you two have some work to be doing? I'm sure Captain Kuchiki could find something for you to do if you have so much free time on your hands, Lt. Abarai...."
"You read our minds, Taichō! We were just heading to a meeting to...discuss...important stuff..." It seemed that Renji had finally taken the hint, with Hisagi following quickly after.
"Yeah, that's right! Important...Vice Captain things...Good-bye, Taichō!"
With that the two rushed off immediately, making a note to never bring it up again or be prepared to face the wrath of an angry Hitsugaya and Hyourinmaru.
That wasn't nice, ignoring the cool pact like that. We love being cool, remember? That's why we like ice and winter and snow. You should get a snow cone next time you're in the human world. Haineko told me that Matsumoto loves them.
Hitsugaya once again let the words of Hyourinmaru fall on deaf ears. He had finally made it to his office and thankfully Matsumoto for now was nowhere to be found. There was enough paperwork to keep him occupied for quite awhile but his mind couldn't help but keep wandering off to the events of the night before. As if on cue he heard yet another amused snort come from Hyourinmaru before letting out a loud sigh as his head hit the desk.
"Hitsugaya Taichō, you know what you're missing? Do youuuuuu?" A red-faced Abarai Renji was now leaning over towards Tōshirō's side of the table, a hand swinging his cup of sake around enough to make it spill onto the floor as his speech slurred greatly.
"What's that, Abarai?" At the very least this would be interesting so Tōshirō had no problem lending his ear.
"You're missing the coooooool. You've got the cold kind of cool, the snowy kind that kids like to eat, unless it's yellow. You shouldn't eat yellow things..." Renji continued on with his drunken rambling about things he'd read up on in the living world for a few moments before getting back to his point, "but not the true coooool. The kind that me and Hisagi here iooze/i with." Hisagi promptly nodded in agreement, although not really sure what Renij was getting at.
"The what....."
"The cooooooool, Captain. The cooooool. See, me and Hisagi, we've got cool all over the place. It's right HERE" And before fully thinking it through, he poked himself right in the forehead, luckily missing his eye, but hard enough to mess with his balance.
"I'm not get-"
"He's right! He's right! We've got the cooooool all over, Captain. You neeeed the cool. Mine's right here!" With that Hisagi took to poking himself, only this time it was his nose, "And HERE", then his cheek. Although by now he was so far under the influence of all the sake that his finger just lazily slid down his cheek until his arm fell heavily to his lap, followed by a slow chuckle, "Cooooooooool"
"Oh! Taichō! Taichō! They're right! You need some cool! Get some cool! Hinamori will loooooove you if you get some cooooool..."
He should've known that Rangiku would join in sooner or later. She wasn't as far gone as the other dimwits but she had to have known that the mention of Momo would make his ears perk up just a little. It was then he realized that she had really just wanted to see his face turn beet red.
"The cool....I need the cool...for Momo..." It was at that point that he quietly set his head atop his arms as they lay folded on the table. Otherwise known as the point of no return since afterward consisted of letting them somehow talk him into one of the biggest mistakes he would probably ever make
The paperwork would have to wait. He couldn't stand this any longer. It had been bad enough that when he awoke this morning that his back was unusually sore. Grabbing Hyourinmaru once again, amidst the zanpakutou's all too knowing laugh, he shunpo'ed to Rangiku's place. Once she allowed him in, he didn't take the time to make note of the other two who were sitting on her couch with a bottle of sake ready to be opened. Immediately finding her three-way mirror he stripped off his haori and slid his uniform down his shoulders as he looked over his shoulder to finally see his newest piece of art.
What did I tell you? The wings are all off. Next time you should really pay attention to what other people are doing...
Sure enough on his back was a big tattoo of an ice dragon whom's wings were definitely not up to pare with those of the real Hyourinmaru. He couldn't believe it. Reaching an arm back he ran his fingers over it lightly, what he could reach of it anyhow, his jaw dropped slightly from shock. Hiding his face in his hands, he shook his head slowly after discovering the final blow to it all. Not so much the tattoo as the kanji that sat above it.
The faces of Matsumoto, Hisagi and Renji, before shunpo'ing themselves away to hide in the event that Hitsugaya came out of his shock too fast, peered around the corner just long enough to utter the kanji that Hitsu was too afraid ashamed to admit was really there...
"Cooooooooooooooooool"