Inspired by ForeverFalling86's analysis in her story "Winter of the Willows". It was just like one of those things that's like…bam, it's so epic, and perfectly fits, and you can't stop thinking about it. Hope you enjoy!
An Unlikely Perfect Pair
From their first days working together, they have been an odd pair.
"Matsumoto, you understand this mission?"
"Yes sir."
The two stood a little ways apart. The boy was pretending to examine his new cell phone while she looked at clothing ads. They ignored the stares of the humans that passed them. Toushirou was scanning the area for suspicious reiatsu, while Matsumoto watched the passers by with her peripheral vision.
Matsumoto Rangiku. Tall, playful, and constantly full of energy and happiness. She loved to joke, and have a good time, especially at parties. She seemed not to take her work seriously, and often led others to wonder whether she was really that powerful, or if she'd won her position merely due to her undeniable beauty and charm.
Hitsugaya Toushirou. Small, cold, and constantly serious and dutiful. He was more often than not seen working, either on papers for the division, or training to better his own abilities. Though he looked like a child, the coldness he was able to project was enough to silence most tongues, and his abilities was not to be wondered at for those who knew him.
Just as the boy tensed, his reiatsu senses tense and alert, Matsumoto groaned and threw down her flyer. "Man, the new trends are so boring!"
She flicked her hair, the causal movement signaling the direction that the suspicious beings had moved, and how many there were with a simple show of fingers. The boy got up and began to walk. "Onee-chan, no one cares about the trends. We were supposed to be out for ice-cream. And then I have to go to the bookstore to get that chemistry workbook."
"Aww, but why?" Matsumoto whined. "I don't want to! I hate talking to vendors! They never listen to me."
He was responsible, and she one who shied from work. She loved fun and drinking, and he detested it. He preferred the calm and quiet, and she loud and energy filled atmospheres. She was always grinning, and he always scowling.
It was no wonder that most were confused at how they could work so well together when they were as different as day and night. And moreover, that the captain would deem the lieutenant his friend, and one he would always trust and rely on when he often complained about her skipping out on work, and the lieutenant claiming that she cared greatly for her captain, and saying she would want no other when she often complained about how stingy and strict he was.
Toushirou rolled his eyes, nonchalantly treading the path after the two suspicious figures. They drew many stares, but no one gave them any thought other than the fact that here were two strange people, a child arguing with her teen sister. Completely and utterly harmless, for though the girl was well endowed and beautiful, her whining appeared to be the mark of one who didn't know how to do much for herself.
"Well then, it sucks to be you. It's not like they'll listen to me," Toushirou said. He crossed his arms and scowled.
"I know! We can meet up with my friends tonight and go for a drink! It'll make up for no ice cream and I can just make the others buy for me."
"No way in hell!" the boy hissed, annoyed. "Underage, you know!"
"So?"
"So I'm not going!"
Passersby merely chuckled once, giving no thought to them except for their odd hair, which they believed must have been bleached. They bantered like two normal siblings. Nothing to worry about.
A mistake many enemies often made.
They worked well in missions, especially undercover ones used to destroy more powerful, intelligent hollows. No one ever gave them a second thought, other than the fact that they were strange. An older female with a young boy who could be her little brother or, though stretching it, her son or nephew if needed, often put off any potential harm. A woman taking care of a young boy and arguing could hardly be someone dangerous or of consequence.
"Oh come on, I'll show you the place!" Matsumoto declared, and before Toushirou could protest, she grabbed his arm and dragged him toward a bar down the street. Toushirou's eyes narrowed for a split second as he saw the two figures turn a corner to an alley behind the place. Matsumoto had noticed as well, but both pretended not to notice. Just a few meters shy of the place, however, Toushirou broke free from her grip, and dashed away, yelling, "Hell no. I'm not going in there!"
"Wait!"
But it was too late. He'd already run off, turning a corner and vanishing. Matsumoto made an exaggerated sigh, and walked off, apparently searching for her younger brother. She could feel eyes upon her. Eyes that did not belong to the humans bustling about. She turned a corner, several buildings from where her captain had turned, humming cheerfully to herself. Whatever was watching her followed. She stopped halfway down the alley, pretending to be thoughtful.
"Well, well, don't you have a delectable reiatsu-"
The rest of the hollow's words were cut off as a jolt of white lightning struck it in the face. She turned and grinned at the disintegrating hollow. "Oh sorry, did you say something?"
Often they were underestimated. Because of Matsumoto's cheerful nature, enemies barely took her into account. Her tongue could be quite sharp, and infuriate opponents, causing them to be angry, and yet at the same time, think her less adept power-wise, and attack her recklessly, never knowing that like a cat, her claws were quite sharp beneath the padding.
Toushirou stopped beside some garbage cans, looking around him with interest. His senses were alert.
He was hardly surprised when a low growl met his ears. "So, you were a shinigami."
"Perceptive," Toushirou said, not yet turning, trying to analyze his enemies' positions. "Expected of arrancar."
He heard shuffling. These must be low-level arrancar. Complete, powerful ones would have attacked already, and been much more stealthy about it. He almost rolled his eyes at the effort they had used to track them. He kept his reiatsu, already dampened by his gigai, tightly in check. He might as well pull the deception thing all the way.
"But you seemed to have lost your 'sister'. What was she, your unit leader or something?"
Once again, a mistake made by many. Without the uniforms and reiatsu indicators, he and Matsumoto's roles were often thought to be reversed. Few would immediately assume a small boy was the leader of a division.
"If Matsumoto were the leader, I fear for whatever unit she's commanding," he said. At the same time, he slipped a hand into his pocket and popped a small green pill into his mouth. He turned as he felt himself push out of his gigai, drawing his zanpakutou and slashing down. Catching one of the arrancar off guard, he sliced off its sword arm.
"Why you…!"
And because of Toushirou's youth, he too was underestimated. People assumed that a small boy like him could never have power. Thus, they did not put their guard up very well around him, and were often struck down. They assumed him to be a pitiful little boy, never knowing that a dragon lay hidden beneath his appearance, ready to strike and kill at a simple command.
"Soten ni Zase, Hyourinmaru!"
Ice rolled across the ground. The wounded arrancar, his senses dulled by pain, was unable to move, meeting the ice full on. He was encased in the frozen water, freezing him to the core. A moment later, the ice shattered, shattering the arrancar's body along with it.
The other, who had avoided the large blast, seemed to recognize that its chances were not that good. She looked around frantically, trying to find a way out, backing away from the boy who had revealed himself to be a captain-class shinigami.
Just as it seemed to find a way out, the boy raised an eyebrow. Staring at a point over the female arrancar's shoulder, he said, "You're late."
"Oh, I'm sorry," a woman's voice spoke up. The arrancar recognized it. It was the boy's 'sister'. She was trapped between the two shinigami.
She whirled around, hissing at the busty tenth division lieutenant. She burst from her gigai, flicking back her strawberry blond hair and grinned back.
They were very different in personality, and very different in the way they fought.
The female lunged. She was more developed than her partner, and more intelligent. She fought well, using her sword and cero alike.
But she was no match for the tenth division leaders. The two moved fluidly, and fought together easily. Matsumoto's taller form fight her head on, Toushirou's small form darting around and covering spaces that she missed.
"Unare, Haineko!"
Ash swirled upwards in the air, forming a twister of millions of tiny sharp blades. Their was no way for the arrancar to escape, except upwards.
He got ready to leap, yet even as she did, a dark blur appeared above her. Her eyes widened, recognizing the boy captain, with his silver-white hair blowing wildly before a torrent of ice rained down upon her, encasing her, freezing her.
Matsumoto's ash backed away just as Toushirou's ice shattered, leaving no trace of the arrancar. For a moment, they paused, scanning the area with their senses. Then, both went to retrieve their gigais.
But from their first day working together, they have been a formidable pair.
"That was great, taichou!" Matsumoto exclaimed. Her captain merely shrugged. "We're leaving the area."
"But why? I saw a movie theater back where we were! We should go watch a movie!"
"No."
"Don't be so stingy!" Matsumoto put her hands on her hips. "You haven't taken a break for ages!"
"And you take one almost every minute," Toushirou snapped back. "When was the last time you worked for a decent hour?"
Matsumoto tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Good question. Your point?"
"That's exactly my point!" the boy snapped. Matsumoto merely laughed, while the boy glared at her. "Sometimes, I really wish I could trade you in for another lieutenant."
"Aww, you don't mean that!" Matsumoto said lightly. "Who would liven up the division? Who'd plan the parties of the place?"
"Which reminds me. I found your new stash of sake, and you're not getting it back until all the paperwork on your desk is finished."
"Taichou!"
Yet it was their extreme differences that made them work so well together. The joyful lieutenant would often be able to help her uptight captain loosen up slightly, and drag him away from the work that might otherwise affect his health. The strict captain would always be able to keep his lieutenant in check, and was one of the few that could control her, being one of the few that she respected and admired.
As they walked, they suddenly felt a familiar flare of reiatsu. Both shinigami became serious.
"It's a powerful one this time," Matsumoto commented.
"We'll take care of it," Toushirou muttered. He jumped out of his gigai again, and Matsumoto did the same. Despite his words about getting another lieutenant, both of them knew that he never would. There was no one he trusted to be his lieutenant as much as Matsumoto Rangiku. And Matsumoto would never leave, because there was no one she would want to work under more than Hitsugaya Toushirou.
"Matsumoto, watch my back."
"Yes sir!"
Despite their differences, they had a deep bond that had somehow spring up, and never been broken. And because of this bond, they were able to work together extremely well
"You know what they say; A captain's job is to protect his subordinates, and a lieutenant's job is to watch her captain's back."
So, here's Matsumoto's. I hope it was interesting to read. I might take a break tomorrow, and I might not. But I'll definitely post something for Christmas for all you wonderful readers!