Valentine's Day Chapter 1: Preparation, a bleach fanfic

Title: Valentine's Day

Series: BVW trilogy (Boredom/Valentine's Day/White Day) -Part 2-

Author: Heuk Ya

Genre: General/Romance

Rating: T (PG-13)

Pairing: Kurosaki Ichigo/Hitsugaya Toshiro

Spoilers: None

Summary: Sequel to Boredom. It's Ichigo's turn to make his move. Hitsugaya gets an unexpected break from his duty. What have his bubbly vice-captain and an orange strawberry come up with this time?

Disclaimer: It depresses me but the reality is that I do NOT own the Bleach. Damnit.

Distribution: Fanfiction and LJ.

Warning: None

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Author's Note:

This is a sequel to Boredom but the humor is replaced by fluff. Matsumoto is aware of Ichigo's secret crush although she remains oblivious to Hitsugaya's little OOC antic last time. It's set after Baishin incident but before Arrancar Arc so it's assumed that since Ichigo became a substitute shinigami, the only time Hitsugaya had stayed at the human world is during the OVA.

Valentine's Day by Heuk Ya Ch.1

Kurosaki Ichigo, the loud, impulsive substitute shinigami, was currently walking over to the 13th division, trying very, VERY hard to hide his manic reiatsu and thinking even harder.

A little too hard that he didn't notice Kuchiki Byakuya until too late.

"Ow!"

"…………."

"Ah, Byakuya, sorry."

The noble shinigami simply stared at the orange-haired teen with his stoic gaze, ignoring the apology and the lack of the ryoka's manner in addressing him. Not because he was okay with the friendly name calling, but because his sense had picked up something he thought he would never see it happening.

"……….You are reining your reiatsu."

Then the sixth division captain corrected himself as the statement had not been entirely correct.

"Or at least attempting to."

"Huh? Oh, yeah…….. Hey, don't go Senbonzakura on me, Byakuya, I'm not planning anything, okay? There are certain people I don't want them to know I'm here."

Ichigo hastily added when he saw Byakuya's obsidian eyes narrowing, not realizing it was because he called him Byakuya instead of Kuchiki taichou yet again. However it was true that he was hiding his reiatsu from 'certain people', though for different reasons. Zaraki Kenpachi was to be avoided at all cost anyway, but more importantly………

The stoic captain just looked at the orange-haired teen, his face set in the deadpan mask, then spoke in his usual monotone.

"Rukia is not in Soul Society. She left to the human world with Abarai a few hours ago."

The substitute shinigami's looked crestfallen at the news.

"Eh? You know when they are coming back?"

"I believe they are staying there for a few days."

Ichigo smirked. I see, so that's how it is. Damn Rukia, not telling him about it.

"Thanks, oh and by the way…….."

"……….."

"Can you not mention about seeing me here to Toshiro? I know you guys see each other often, with you both being taichous and all."

"…………I rarely hold any personal conversation with Hitsugaya taichou so your worries are unfounded. However you should not be stirring up any trouble for your own good."

Did Kuchiki Byakuya just worry about him? Ichigo blinked.

"It's nothing like that. Wait, actually……… You think you can do me a favor?"

"……………….."

The Kuchiki noble gazed at the substitute shinigami in a silent, deadpan way that only he could ever even hope to achieve. It seemed like the teen was……… energetic was not quite the right word………… bubbly. Like that obnoxiously flash vice-captain of the tenth division. There was a gleam in the hazelnut eyes, shining with joy and expectation. And what was this about keeping his visit secret to the tenth division captain? Although Byakuya soon decided he would rather not know.

"I know I can't mask my reiatsu completely and I don't want Toshiro to know, you see…….. But I need to ask Rangiku-san something, I was going to ask Rukia if she can get her without raising any suspicion."

"You want me to get Matsumoto fukutaichou?"

Ignoring the subtle but surely incredulous tone, Ichigo visibly beamed which, in fact, made feel the stoic captain rather uncomfortable.

"Yeah!!! You have to go pass the tenth division if you wanna go to the sixth from here, right? Just tell her I'll be waiting at the West gate and that Toshiro can't know where she's going. Should be easy enough."

Byakuya was going to refuse flat-out but then he realized the substitute shinigami looked like a kid whose Christmas had come early. What was up with this ryoka? It has now been awhile since they had first met but he still couldn't understand him; he probably never will either.

"……..Fine. Leave here right now, Hitsugaya taichou is very sensitive at others' reiatsu. If you come any closer to the tenth division, he probably would know."

"Thanks, Byakuya!!"

Then Ichigo was off, his shunpo seemingly a lot faster than usual even though he was not in bankai. Weird. Then Byakuya narrowed his eyes.

That ryoka just called him Byakuya again.

Ichigo was chatting with Jidanbou when he felt Matsumoto's reiatsu approaching. Soon, the buxom woman appeared with her usual smile and the flowery air about her. It looked like Matsumoto already knew what the teen was going to ask her, considering those sparkles in her eyes.

"Ichigo!!! Hi!!"

"Hi, Rangiku-san. Thanks for coming."

"No problem, no problem!! So? What is it??"

"Well…. I was wondering…….."

And the strawberry-blonde shinigami blinked. Ichigo was fidgeting. The Kurosaki Ichigo was fidgeting. Matsumoto couldn't hold her laughter back, it was just too cute. She knew the orange-haired teen was just that type of guy but still, to see it with her own eyes.

How the rash teen fell for her icy captain, she would never know, but she knew Ichigo would probably be able to get her captain to relax a bit and hopefully get him to scowl less. She was used to it already but it was still a damn shame to see that pretty -she never said this word in reference to her captain to anyone; after all, Hyourinmaru was the strongest ice-type zanpaktou and she did not need an experience to go with the knowledge- face in a frown all the time.

Then suddenly Ichigo seemed to have steeled his resolve and his usual 'I'm going to do this' face came back.

"Rangiku-san, it's going to be Valentine's Day in human world the day after tomorrow."

"Ooh! I heard about it from Rukia!!! Are you thinking of inviting taichou over?"

Oh, the fidgeting was back.

"Well…. I first thought of it but… I wasn't sure if he could get away from his work on the day."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can manage that one easily."

Ichigo chuckled awkwardly. It certainly worked to his advantage but he wasn't so sure if it was good or bad for Toshiro to have such … an undermining (although perfectly loyal) vice-captain for his division.

"Then, there's something else I wanna ask too."

Matsumoto grinned, nodding already.

"Yeah?"

"Well……. It's not like I've done this before but I know Toshiro doesn't come to the human world a lot and considering his look, I'd say he probably died young too……"

"That's true."

"So I was wondering if you knew any places Toshiro seemed interested in the human world but didn't get the chance to go or something."

The beautiful face morphed into a thoughtful frown as the vice-captain treaded back into her memories but it wasn't long before she replied.

"Hmm….. Taichou rarely shows interest in anything except the mission so it's hard to tell…… but I think it's just little things, mostly."

"Little things?"

Frowning again, Matsumoto tried elaborating a little further for the blinking teen.

"Yeah….. not like a huge event or something. More like……. Just some time at a park or the night markets or a simple dinner………. Snacks….. With taichou, he doesn't get much chance to do anything like that. He doesn't say anything but I think he would like to try."

"Hmmm…"

Ichigo let out a relieved sigh inwardly; they were easily manageable. Even though the prodigy captain was thought to be young in Soul Society, Toshiro had definitely lived longer than himself so the teen had worried a bit whether the icy shinigami had already experienced most of the real world.

"How about ice skating?"

"Taichou would probably love it, with all the ice around him. He would feel at home."

Matsumoto smiled as she watched the substitute shinigami trying to think of something else. When she first noticed the frequent visits and the hidden glances, she wasn't quite sure what to think of the situation; it wasn't the gender that bothered her but the clash between their personalities. However she could tell right now that Ichigo was really trying his best for her captain. The teen was doing this not just to woo her snappy captain, but to give him a genuinely memorable day.

And even with all the snarled remarks and the irritated scowls, her captain didn't seem to mind the substitute shinigami's almost constant presence in his office. Maybe things were finally beginning to get interesting in the boy genius' life. Smiling warmly, Matsumoto decided to put the teen's mind in peace.

"Don't go for anything too big, just take him where you usually spend time. Start off simple then let the day take its own course. Once taichou settles down with the idea, I'm sure he'll lead you around. He's not a captain of an investigation division for nothing, he is very curious of pretty much everything. Taichou just knows when and when not to show it. But remember, you need to catch the subtle signs. He's not one to flaunt, he's used to being in control and doing things on his own in his way."

Ichigo nodded at Matsumoto's wise words, remembering every single one of them. The jovial woman was a very observant and caring vice-captain despite all her flashiness and laziness, which was why she made a good combination with the always-bored-to-death, prickly captain.

"Thanks…. Well, could you get Toshiro to come to my place in the human world at about nine in the morning, the day after tomorrow?"

Matsumoto winked cheerfully as she giggled at the thought.

"Easy enough but I don't think I can get more than two days off though. Taichous can't be away from Soul Society for long unless they are on official missions."

"That's more than enough. Honestly speaking, I think Toshiro will insist on returning that night."

"Well, it would be your job to make sure he gets all his beauty sleep then, wouldn't it, Ichigo?"

Ichigo laughed at Matsumoto's words; Toshiro and Rangiku really did make best combination even if their conversations were usually short-lasted and ended with the captain's frustrated scream. Not wanting to risk being seen by others, Ichigo thanked the busty shinigami for her help then took off to return to the human world; he now had plans to make.

And Rukia and Renji to disturb. The teen smirked.