Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters or settings, Tite Kubo does.

Snow Falls in the Present - Chapter 1: An Impromptu Holiday

Walking around the Seireitei, Hitsugaya Toshiro paused to glance to his left. Inhaling deeply, the smell of amanattō filled his senses. Instantly alert, he turned towards the scent, momentarily forgetting about his missing Lieutenant.

Having been deprived of the sweet confectionary for almost two months – his grandma hadn't been sending any lately – he was all too ready to just shunpo off recklessly towards the scent.

However, since he was also a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he also had responsibilities. And his current one was a ridiculous search for Matsumoto. He could just imagine the places he could find her: a bar, his office, the street, Rukongai . . .

Shaking his head, he decided to make a tough decision and forced thoughts of amanattō to the back of his head, trying to focus. Jumping onto a nearby roof, he searched for Matsumoto's reiatsu, locating her, not so surprisingly, in his office. And he would bet his soul that she wasn't working, on the contrary, she was probably passed out on his couch, a bottle of sake in her hand and any documents she couldn't hide somewhere, stuffed down her shihakusho.

Grimacing at the very thought of going back, the white haired captain's permanent frown deepened.

He was so wrapped up in thought that the arrival of Abarai Renji went completely unnoticed.
It was only after ten minutes, when the strangely nervous presence of Renji started to annoy him that he turned around and addressed the red headed Lieutenant.

'What?'

'C-captain Hitsugaya!' the captain in question raised an eyebrow when Renji stuttered, and wondered what had disturbed the man so, 'I have an urgent message from the Head Captain,'

Toshiro turned to face him fully, now concentrating fully, 'What is it, Abarai?'

'All Captains and Lieutenants are required to take two days holiday starting tomorrow,' Renji's voice began at his usual volume and speed until the words 'two days holiday', where it petered out to a rapid, unintelligible mutter.

'Lieutenant Abarai!' Toshiro barked, 'Repeat the message clearly or I'll have to inform Captain Kuchiki about your incompetence,'

Renji went white, his tattoos standing out harshly against the now pale skin, he raised his head from staring at the floor and looked at the young captain, eyes dark with fear, 'Yes sir,' he paused, taking a deep breath, 'All Captains and Lieutenants are required to take two days holiday, sir! Starting tomorrow, sir!'

'Thank you Abarai,' the air around the pair grew icily cold, 'You are dismissed,'

Trying his hardest not to shiver, Renji turned and used shunpo to make a hasty retreat.

Toshiro sighed, rubbing his face, thinking, A holiday? What's the meaning of this?

With a few quick shunpo, Toshiro was standing outside his office, still debating on whether or not he was going to go in, and still wondering what he'd see.
Making up his mind and moving quickly, to not allow himself time to change it, he opened the door and walked in.

Instantly the temperature dropped and Matsumoto found herself shivering slightly, hugging the barely warm sake bottle to her chest.

'Matsumoto!' the dark, furious voice of her captain made her turn in her sleep, mumbling something. It was only when ice had started to creep up the couch that she woke.

'Captain!' as she rose abruptly, crushed documents slid from under her body and behind the cushions. Toshiro couldn't help but be relieved that his mind had exaggerated that part.

'What were you doing, Matsumoto?' his expressionless but freezing voice made her twitch.

'Nothing!' she tried to hide the sake bottle but her head was spinning much that she ended up dropping it.

'I can see that!' he snapped, bringing his reiatsu back under control and allowing the frost to recede from the room, 'Where were you this morning? I've been looking for you for half a day!'

'That's so sweet of you, Captain,' she cooed as she attempted to stand, 'I was just with Izuru and Hisagi dri-,' she cut herself off groggily.

'I see,' the short captain walked past her, sitting down at his desk with a sigh, 'Did you receive the message?'

'What message?' Matsumoto looked up from gathering the pieces of sake bottle, her pale blue eyes sparkling, 'Something good?'

'The Head Captain has ordered that all Captains and Lieutenants have two days off beginning tomorrow,' he waited for her outburst of excitement but instead tears welled in her eyes, his eyebrow twitched, 'What?'

'You won't let me will you, Captain?' he voice trembled, 'You'll make me do all of that paperwork,' she pointed to the piles of paper stuffed under the couch.

He frowned darkly, trying not to smirk, 'It's an order from the Head Captain so I can't do much to stop you,' he held up a hand before she could speak, 'But if you don't work hard today, then I'll make it doubly hard for you when you come back,'

'Really!' she completely, and quite selectively, ignored his last statement, 'Captain you're so nice!'

Tears forgotten, she sprang forwards, 'Let me hug you to my bosom!'

He blinked as she flew towards him, aware that, if he dodged, she'd probably make a mess of his paperwork and spill ink on his desk. As it was, she'd probably attempt to jump the desk to reach him anyway.

'Bakudo 61, Rikujōkōrō,'

Six beams of yellow light speared Matsumoto and she blinked, frozen in her path towards him. Peering over her shoulder, Toshiro wasn't too shocked to see Kuchiki Byakuya standing in the doorway, eyes closed pensively.

'Kuchiki,' Toshiro rose from his seat and ignored Matsumoto's squeak as he passed her, 'Is there something I could help you with?'

'Have you seen my Lieutenant?' Byakuya's stoic voice was coloured ever so slightly with annoyance, 'You were the last person he needed to notify,'

'Abarai notified me,' he kept a straight face effortlessly, smirk perfectly hidden, 'And then he used a surprisingly quick shunpo to retreat. I haven't seen him since,'

'I see,' Byakuya turned away, before pausing, 'If you see him, please let me know. He was planning on going to the World of the Living tomorrow with the 3rd and 5th seats of the 11th Division and I needed a word with him before he left,'

'I will,' Toshiro turned away again as the emotionless man used his famous shunpo to vanish. He had a pretty good guess what the other captain wanted to talk to his Lieutenant about – a certain, short shinigami with the name of Kuchiki Rukia. No doubt Byakuya was worried for his little sister's safety.

'The World of the Living?' Matsumoto's voice reached his ears as the kido binding her was released, 'I want to go too!'

'What you do on your holiday is none of my concern,' he snapped at her, 'Don't bother me with your endless chatter on the latest human fashions,'

'But Captain!' she blinked at him innocently, 'Won't you come too? I'm sure Orihime will let us stay with her again,'

He worked hard to stop his stomach from turning over at the thought of Inoue Orihime's cooking. The orange haired girl really did have original, unique tastes.

'Just go alone,' he sighed, 'And don't spend all of your money!'

Unfortunately, as usual, Matsumoto had left without listening to his last words, presumably going to tell the others that she was, most definitely, going too.
He wasn't that concerned about her leaving, after all, he might actually get some peace without her around.

Thinking this way, he reseated himself at his neat desk and finished off both his and his Lieutenant's paperwork, hardly pondering what he'd do on his holiday.

Author's Note:

I was thinking that maybe the title won't make any sense . . . yet . . . but oh well :P

I'm not certain how long this could get, but I'm hoping none of the characters are too OOC.