Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Neither does my brother, mother, father, great uncle, or cousin twice removed. My cats, however, have a bet with Kubo-san that the fangirls will kill Ichigo before someone else does (again), so they may have the rights to Bleach very soon.
Moriko: You...ARE kidding, right?
Me: ...Yes, of course! Of course I am! :D
Gothica: -.-" Great.
Muffin: Um...Swirly...
Me: What?
Muffin: whispers
Me: Oh! Oh, right then...grabs megaphone HEY! GET MOVING, PEOPLE, THE CAKE IS DONE!
Splode: You realize this is ANOTHER belated birthday present? For the same person?
Me: Yeah, well...ACID REFLUX IS NOT FUN, OKAY?!
Ani: But...that was only recently. What about the other seven and a half months you've been absent when you neglected the regular updates?
Me: ...YOU BE SILENT, KAY?
Gothica: Make us.
Me: -.0" sigh Well...I have no excuse for that absence, aside from school, which has been over for the past three months...and in the next two weeks it'll start again. DX But I'll update! I swear to gods that long of a wait will NOT happen again. And to kick that promise off, I've got a belated-birthday fic for BB. I owe her, especially, for the for the wait, because she sent me a bunch of messages saying to get my butt in gear. The gears have been fixed and I'm on a roll again. Here ya' go, BB, hope you like it. :) grabs megaphone again Muffin! BRING IN THE CAKE!!!
Muffin: wheels in a giant cake That used a lot of flour, I can tell you.
Me: Enjoy!
---
Icing on the Cake
"Taichou! TAIICHOUUU!!!" Matsumoto threw the sliding door wide, bursting into her captain's office and waving the message above her head. "Taichou! Hurry, hurry, we've gotta get going!"
Toshiro glanced up, giving his lieutenant a frosty stare before flicking his eyes back down to the paperwork. "What is it, Matsumoto? Is it so incredibly important that you forgot to reply to this report this morning? The one that I am now doing myself?"
"Yes," stated Matsumoto. Toshiro glared at her, pursing his lips and frowning. The cheerful smile he received was not reaction he'd been hoping for.
"I doubt it," he said dryly, ignoring her pout.
"But Taichouuu," Matsumoto whined, slamming her hands on his desk empathetically. The ink pot balancing on the corner rattled and tipped over, leaking ink like oil onto the stack of freshly done paperwork the boy had just finished. "We have to go now! We'll be late! We'll miss it! There'll be no sake left!"
A white eyebrow twitched. Toshiro glared at Matsumoto from the corner of his eyes, grinding his jaw and trying hard not to look at the ruined paperwork. "Matsumoto. We are not going to one of your insane drinking parties. Especially now that I must throw those--" he jabbed a finger at the stack of reports, "--away and start over again. I'll be doing YOUR work for the rest of the afternoon."
A strange glint came into Matsumoto's eye. The pout dropped right off her face and clattered to the floor. Toshiro blinked, feeling a wave of determination fill the room. He glanced up. "...Matsumoto...? Ach! --let go of m--"
"We're going to the party," the woman said flatly, hefting her boss over her shoulder and exiting the office. "And we're not gonna be late. M'kay, Taichou?"
"Matsumoto! Put me down!" Toshiro squirmed, instinctively reaching for Hyourinmaru. He bit his lip to quell the rising frustration; being carried like a kid to one of Matsumoto's parties! He would not stand for it! "Put me down or else--!!!"
"Oh, be quiet, Taichou," Matsumoto said breezily, smiling once more. "You'll have fun! It is a special occasion, after all!"
Toshiro frowned, in no mood for vagueities. "What special occasion? Put me DOWN! That's an ord--oof!"
Matsumoto had taken off, getting a running start to leap lightning fast across the rooftops. She was moving so quickly Toshiro was left gasping for breath, and after a minute Matsumoto stopped. Toshiro struggled to break her grip, sucking in lungfuls of air and scowling ferociously. "Matsumoto--"
"We're here, Taichou!" chirped the lieutenant, unxpectedly releasing her captain and paying no attention as he fell to the ground with a thunk. "Now put on a smile and be nice, okay? Everybody's worked really hard on this, so pretend to be happy~"
About to send back a stinging retort, Toshiro stopped. He blinked and looked around. Was this the 11th Squad's garrison? Why would Matsumoto drag him here? Come to think of it, when did she ever go so far as to bring him to one of her parties? She usually snuck off during her lunch break without even bothering to lie to him. Since when was he included?
And exactly what had everyone worked so hard on?
Standing and brushing himself down, irritated, he started to demand what he was doing here. Seeing only a flash of Matsumoto's hair as she vanished into the 11th Squad's cafeteria, he inhaled deeply through his nose and started towards the door after her.
She is so fired, he thought to himself, pausing for a moment before shoving the doors open and crossing the threshold.
The sight inside shocked him.
"What...?" murmured the captain.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" shouted his friends.
Toshiro blinked as several people from the mass rushed forward, smiling, to greet him. Rukia held her hand up for a high-five, Ukitake shook his hand heartily, Yachiru threw her arms around his neck and perched on his shoulder. Everyone was laughing and smiling and handing him presents and insisting he be the one to cut the cake. He took up knife, dazed, and made a clean slice into the thick icing. All around him, shinigami cheered.
As Yachiru eagerly snatched the first slice of cake and the others pressed him to cut some more, the white-haired captain remembered what Matsumoto had said earlier:
"It is a special occasion, after all!"
He caught sight of a flash of orange hair, and Kurosaki Ichigo took the knife from him and told him to go open his presents. Toshiro stared at him, saying abruptly, "Is a party really so important for you to come here from the human world? Don't you have to go to school, or something?"
"School? Yeah, I've got school," Ichigo said, letting a calm smile spread across his face. "But Hel, what's so important that I'd miss a friend's birthday?"
Toshiro didn't reply. Turning abruptly, he weaved through the crowd, nodding to acknowledge several greetings and a hail of congratulations thrown at him before he reached the end of the long central table. He waited, watching Matsumoto joke with Renji and giving another nod when the pineapple-head saluted him.
As Renji became absorbed in an argument with Ikaku, Toshiro asked Matsumoto quietly, "Did you plan this?"
Eyes twinkling, she shook her head. "Nope. You'll find the culprit of instigating a good time over there, eating your cake." She pointed a finger to where Yachiru sat next to Kenpachi, her chin covered in frosting and chattering away. For a moment, Toshiro looked pained. Then, the irritation fading from his face, he took a deep breath and made his way across to them.
Kenpachi eyed him, customary vicious leer on his face. "Hey, look, it's the birthday boy! Congrats, kid, you've lived another year. Let's hope it stays that way, eh?" The man threw his head back and laughed uproaoriously before licking his lips and announcing that he'd better go get some cake before he was forced to take it from someone.
As the behemoth ambled off, Yachiru waved her fork at Toshiro. "Hi, Whitey-chan! Do you like your party? This is good cake."
"Did you plan all this?"
She beamed at him. "Of course! It's Whitey-chan's birthday! Everyone deserves cake on their birthday! Have you had some yet?"
After a moment, Toshiro shook his head. His shoulders relaxed and for once there were no worry lines on his forehead. He asked Yachiru, "No, I haven't gotten any yet. Can I have some of yours?"
Yachiru's eyes flashed, and she pointed her fork at him menacingly. Some of the icing flicked off and landed on his chin. "No way, Whitey-chan. You've got a whooooole cake to choose from! This is my piece."
He nodded firmly, not daring to argue. "Right. Good answer, Kusajishi." Pausing, he added softly, "And...thank you."
Yachiru patted his head. "No problem, Whitey-chan! You'd better like your presents!"
"I'm sure I will." Flashing a quick, small smile and unconsciously fixing his hair, Toshiro braced himself to head back into the mob. To be honest, he didn't care about presents. A birthday party...That was all he needed.
Hitsugaya Toshiro glanced around quickly to make sure no one was looking before swiping his toungue around his mouth to get the icing on his chin.
It was delicious.
---
Author's Note: HAAAPY belated BIRTHDAY TOOO YOUUUUU~...HAAAAPYYYYY belated BIRTHDAYYY TOOO YOUUU~...HAAAAPPPY belated BIRTHHDAYYYY DEAR HEALERRRRR~, HAPPPPY belated BIIIRRTHDAAYY TOOOOOOOO YOUUUUUUUUU~!!!
Me: cheers Heh heh, I know you like the ToChiru pairing...I'm more of a ByaYachi person myself--what? If Nel use an adult-form, I bet Yachiru can too!--but yeah, I tried to wedge some light ToChiru in here. I'm not so great with romance, so I made it happy. I gave it my best. ^^"
Moriko: struggling to break Gothica and Splode's grip Let me at that caaaakkke!
Gothica: No! You'll eat it all!
Moriko: How could I?! It's gotta be twice the size of Chouji!
Ani: ...I thought this was a Bleach fic? confused
Me: It is, it is. Mori's just...a bit cake crazy.
Moriko: CHOCOLATE!
Splode: Somebody get some chains or somethin'!
Muffin: Keep her away, she'll ruin my creation!
Toshiro: ...Why am I posing on top of a cake, again?
Me: Shhh! Pretend you're a statue! Only speak when BB/Healer gets here!
Toshiro: If you've written this, what's the point?
Me: You will be silent with your logics!
Toshiro: sighs Happy belated birthday, BB.
All of us: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!