Kurosaki Toushirou

Author's Note: -yell- The HIRS is worse than I thought…Now I've got not one, not two, but three new ideas stuck in my head, including this one. -sigh-I have got to get back to my multi-chapter fics or else they'll never be done at this rate. Not that I'm tired of writing HitsuIchi; I love it too much to give it all up like that, but you gotta admit…if this keeps up, I'm gonna go insane. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Bleach. If I did, Hitsugaya would begin wearing the female's shihakushou and tie his hair into a tiny ponytail.

Bold – reading between the lines for Ichigo; a sort of mental note in both their heads. You'll get it when you read on

Italics – same use as bold, except for Hitsu

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The calm, cool and collected captain of the 10th Division stoically made his way back to his division office once the captain's meeting was finally over. It had begun first thing in the morning, and would ya look at the time now? Shades of the night were already creeping into the skies, and the sun which the icy captain completely loathed would be bidding its farewells before letting the moon take over its duties. Once he got back to his division, he would, as much as any other captain would, love to have a well-earned sleep but that wasn't possible in the 10th Division. Not when the lazy big-busted sow wasn't around. Even if she was around, she would be there to pick up her purse which she left behind and dash for the bar straight away. Hitsugaya Toushirou sighed.

Well, at least the workload for the day wasn't as terrible as the day before.

In fact, the captain was very optimistic about completing the paperwork before midnight to get a good night's sleep, and that was very rare to come from a workaholic taichou like him. That is, of course, Matsumoto didn't butt into the office with her hangovers pissing him all the damned time, not to mention bringing her fellow lieutenants along with her as well. Really...Why were so many fukutaichous were in love with sake when there was only one taichou who loved sake as much as they did? Captains had many reasons, and Hitsugaya would be glad to list them all out, but that would be time-consuming and for a…businessman -ahem- businessboy like him…consumed time would mean less time for paperwork and less time for paperwork would mean less time for sleep and less time for sleep would mean less time for gelling up his hair and less time for gelling up his hair would mean less time for…for…for…

…

Never mind.

At last and for once in his entire position as captain, Hitsugaya Toushirou had completed the paperwork – and it wasn't even at the stroke of midnight yet. That was a record. He left the desk to stretch some muscles (since no one was looking) and at the thought of his soft, large, fluffy haven of a mattress on the floor, Hitsugaya wanted so much to get some good sleep, but he had to clear up the ink and tea first, lest the ink dried up and he would have to waste money buying another ink slab, and as for the tea…well, he couldn't very well leave it on his desk to attract whatever insects in great numbers, could he? Already a fly was annoying him with its constant buzzing. Before the fly got into his tea, he drank the rest of it with one quick gulp and washed it. Ok, just keep the ink and ink slab and he would be able to get into bed as soon as this was done and over with…

"Yo! Toushirou!"

The shock from hearing therowdy voice that clearly belonged to that blockhead penetrating through silence hung thickly in the atmosphere certainly got Hitsugaya's hair standing up straight like his hair was already not straight enough as it was. He should never had spun around to see who he knew was behind him, for the swift movement knocked the entire bottle of ink over as deep ebony fluid began staining his hard-worked paperwork. His eyebrows began twitching uncontrollably with a fit of anger and frustration, and his fists were nicely clenched together as he tried to suppress his rage. He didn't notice that the ink had already dripped to the ground at which he was standing. Kurosaki Ichigo sweat dropped, anime-style, as he chuckled and grinned sheepishly before making himself scarce by attempting to tip-toe quietly out of the door. The small action did not go unnoticed by the sharp captain. He was just about to give Ichigo a good punch in the head for ruining a good night's sleep as he edged closer and closer to the frightened strawberry.

"Kurosaki!!! Don't you dare even think about taking one step out of this-!"

All of a sudden, he felt his foot step on something slick and ski forward, while he felt his own body slide backwards one moment, and his back muffling a pissed greeting to the floor the next. What a warm start to a conversation. To spice things up, he knocked against his desk and the pile of paperwork fell over, and let's not forget the bottle of ink rolling and rolling across the edge of the table before falling over. Well, the bottle didn't smash on his face, of course; he would never like the idea of going to visit the 4th Division with cuts and bits of glass all over his face with Unohana, who was as scary as she was caring, 'gently' and 'motherly' asking why a child like he got injured like that. But the bottle just had to be a brand new bottle with lots of ink, and it just so happened that the jet black liquid was in love with messing his face up.

"Eh…Toushirou, you, er, ok?" Ichigo asked, trying hard not to let out even the slightest hint of him laughing at the inked captain that lied before him.

Hitsugaya apparently couldn't see as he had shut his eyes tight when the ink made a very intimate contact with his face. His hand moved around aimlessly in the air, trying to find something he could grip onto and attempt to stand up on his own feet without Ichigo's help which he knew would only make things worse. A firm grip on the edge of the table, and he was pleased with that. He pulled himself up on his feet, careful about slipping on the ground again, and looked – um – moved around to find the bathroom to get the muck out of his face and hair. It didn't help by bumping into walls, tripping over the leg of the sofa, and nearly stepping on the blackened glass if not for Ichigo's aid. The warm touch to the skin made Hitsugaya's body temperature rise slowly as his face began flushing, but it wasn't possible to see a blush on an inked face, was it?

At the sink which Ichigo led Hitsugaya to, the now black-haired captain gave a futile attempt to wash everything off, for the ink had already dried and stuck to his face. Sure…big patches of black had come off quite easily with the cold soothing waters from the tap washing his face, but he didn't deny the fact that: One, his hair was still black. Two, there was still patches of black on his face. Three, his haori was filthy with ink. And four, Ichigo was busy laughing away and rolling over the ground, holding his stomach. How did he know when he was in the bathroom and Ichigo in the office? There's such a thing as reflection in the mirror, and Hitsugaya made full use of the reflecting capabilities of the special silvered glass hanging in the bathroom. Obviously, Ichigo was too much of an idiot to notice.

"Oi, baka, when will you be done with the laughing?"

Ichigo didn't hear the 'damn you' comment the whit-I mean, black-haired captain made under his breath, and was still laughing so loudly that Hitsugaya nearly wanted to toss the thrown over pieces of paperwork at the strawberry to shut his trap. He gave an exhale when he was done crazily laughing away and wiped a few tears from his flaming chocolate brown eyes that held the emotion of amusement. "Sorry, Kuro-chan," he apologized, though it wasn't much of an apology anyway.

In his own usual manner, the young intuitive taichou would scoff and mutter an unintelligible comment under his breath and averting Ichigo's baka-ish gaze that attracted blushes, Hitsugaya arched an ebony black eyebrow that had strands of white all over. "…Kuro-chan?"

Oh, sure. Like Shiro-chan wasn't bad enough. Now the idiotic orange-haired buffoon was making fun of his looks and giving the original nickname a little twist to it to add dry humor. Ha ha ho ho. Very funny. If cold looks could freeze, Ichigo would be a frozen popsicle by now. The dragon extension of his soul was just coincidentally making a 'I love popsicles' comment in passing too. How very delightful. Not.

"Yeah. I just figured that Shiro-chan doesn't suit someone who dislikes white, like you, Toushirou."

Hitsugaya blinked twice in rapid motion before Ichigo covered his mouth to prevent himself from crying out in utter amusement and laughter at the sight of the black eyelids fluttering open and close. However, Hitsugaya was in no mood to be pissed. He already was pissed enough as he was, but adding confusion and astonishment to the mix, Hitsugaya was experiencing an all round of neutral emotions stirring up within him. That baka…that baka of a baka…actually discovered his secret? The secret he had been caging up inside of himself to prevent people from poking fun at him had been discovered by this idiot standing and stifling his chuckles right before him? That wasn't possible, not in the slightest bit. Nuh-uh. No way. Hitsugaya had been using the guise of disliking anything that deemed too childish for him which included that certain nickname, but Ichigo saw through his trick, his outer wall, and found the key to the treasure chest that held his secret?

"…How the hell did you…?"

Ichigo placed a finger on Hitsugaya's ink-stained lips, shushing him gently and warmly before he walked over to the desk, mixing up the papers of the paperwork with his hand, and pulled out a drawer where the ink was usually contained, and picked up a fresh new bottle, showing it to the confused icy black-haired captain. Hitsugaya snatched the bottle from his grip, glad that the ink was covering up his blush, and read the label on the bottle. The manufacturer name only confirmed his suspicions when he laid his sparkling emeralds on the words 'Dry-less Ink: Ink that Never Dries'. A slight pause as his brain tried to figure everything out, and as he did, he nearly dropped the bottle of ink in his hands from yet another fit of raging emotions. Kuso. That was how he found out. That Kurosaki wasn't such an idiot after all…

Ichigo smiled at the twitchy reaction from his favorite little captain and wiped a bit of ink from his cheek and eventually noticed the hint of rosy flush. "Ink that never dries…" he whispered so softly that only he and Hitsugaya were able to hear, since they were in such close contact. "You didn't think I wouldn't figure it all out, would ya, Toushirou? At first, I found it a bit weird why you don't like the nickname Shiro-chan, since your hair is white and all. You keep on saying that it's a childish nickie, but something was telling me that there is something more than just kiddy stuff to you, Toushirou. I know how it's like with you doing the paperwork and all, so I got Urahara to make this for me. I got Rangiku-san to hand the ink to you." Ah, so thaaaat was why Yamamoto was complaining the smudges and stains of ink all over the pieces of paperwork that had been submitted. Ichigo was in so much trouble when this was over. "I wanted to visit ya earlier to scare you a little, just for the ink. And my plan worked."

The wide grin plastered all over the soothing look tempted Hitsugaya to look away and prevent himself from letting his feelings loose, but Ichigo tenderly cupped his face and shifted it to lock eyes with him. "...So you saw the ink still on my face…and thought that since I like black, so I didn't wash the ink off…"

Ichigo ruffled the fluffy hair and his hand came off stained with ink. "Why didn't you tell me you like black, Kuro-chan?"

Why didn't you tell me you like me, Kuro-chan?

Hitsugaya gave a soft sigh, his eyes looking at the ground with a saddened expression clouding over his feistiness that was usually sparkling brightly in his eyes. "…I was afraid everyone will laugh at me for liking black."

…I was afraid that people will laugh at me for liking someone like you.

Ichigo was slightly hurt; Hitsugaya just looked away, even though the edges of his face were still held onto by Ichigo's grip. "Is it coz black and white are two totally different things?"

Is it because of our status?

"No. There is black and white in this world to maintain the peace, so they're the same."

No. Our status is the same; we fight and protect people for peace in this world.

"So there is no reason for that, Toushirou?"

So what is it, Toushirou?

"…Yes. There is no reason, Kurosaki."

…I don't want to say it, Kurosaki.

"I won't force you then."

I wish to know without forcing you.

"I was…afraid…that the ink will be washed away if I apply too much force."

I was…afraid…that you will leave due to whatever hurt I gave you if you knew.

"But look…" Ichigo whispered, his voice gone soft and smooth at Hitsugaya's innocent reply. He moved his thumbs to the lobs of the young captain's ears, rubbing away some bits of ink, but smudging it along the way. "…the ink is still here."

But look…I'm still here.

"The ink will eventually be washed away."

You will leave me in the end.

"Let's wash it together, then, Toushirou."

I'll be together with you, no matter what, Toushirou.

"…I appreciate that, Kurosaki."

…Arigatou, Kurosaki.

A gentle smirk came from the orange-haired substitute. "It's nothing, Toushirou."

No problem, Toushirou.

For a few moments, their eyes bore into each other's, unblinking and unwilling to look away, as if captivated by the loving gaze shot at each other before Ichigo brought the stained face closer to him and locked lips with him. They finally closed their eyes as they felt their tongues meet and interlace with each other, the taste buds having a good flavor of the other's. Their lips soon got slightly wet and sloppy with saliva that they tried as hell to keep from dripping mixed with the ink still on the short little taichou's lips, but they didn't mind. In fact, the kiss carried on to the point of Hitsugaya stumbling backwards towards the sofa with Ichigo on top of him as they soon broke off the kiss and snuggled into each other's arms before sleeping with a smile on their faces, which was very rare to see two frown-prone shinigami do.

When a sober Matsumoto came back from her drinking session, her fangirly scream stirred the two awake when she caught sight of the inky Kanji smudged all over the paperwork.

There was no way this was all a pure coincidence.

For on the paperwork were truly dirty ink smudges all over that formed a beautiful but still helluva messy name in Kanji, and Hitsugaya sure as hell didn't do it. When he caught sight of it, he let another warm smile dawn upon his features.

黒崎冬獅郎

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A/N: The name is actually the title of the oneshot, Kurosaki Toushirou. And if you're wondering how Ichigo managed to smudge that little name down there, read the part where he was getting the ink bottle carefully XD

I have been really wondering to myself why Hitsu doesn't like the name at all, and when I thought about color preferences, this instantly popped up, because: One, Ichigo's family name has kuro (black) in it. Two, Ichigo's cloak which he wears when he unleashes bankai is also black. Three, he fires black Getsuga Tenshou in bankai. And four, Tensa Zangetsu is black. XDD Very random idea; I know. And when did it pop up?

Today.

No, seriously. It just popped up today. At any rate, please please please please review! –puppy dog eyes- I still got another oneshot (see A/N above) and about the third idea…it's very lame…I don't think anyone will like it. It's a multi-chapter. If you want to know…um, contact me with a review or a PM, but it's really lame. I don't think it'll get any attention.

Reflect the truth of which you see

Tsuki-no-Kurokage