Title: Rented Love
Summary: Toushirou Hitsugaya is Japan's wealthiest CEO of the Hitsugaya foundation, and is often dubbed as "Number One". What will happen when Number One "rents" Number Two as a girlfriend to please his Grandmother, believing that she is just another poor girl?
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Bleach Whatsoever.
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Chapter One
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"Mr. Hitsugaya, your Grandmother is on the line and wishes to talk to you," reported a buxom secretary with her long, wavy strawberry blonde hair bundled in a loose bun on her head, with a few strands pulling free. A black pen was carelessly placed on her right ear, and it toppled slightly to the side ever so often, as if threatening to fall down.
"Thank you, Ms. Matsumoto. Please transfer her call to my office," replied an extremely handsome man with hair as pure as untouched snow and eyes a piercing turquiose.
"Of course," the elegant secretary left, and within seconds, Hitsugaya's office was filled with his Grandmother's regal voice.
"Shiro," Hitsugaya's Grandmother addressed him with his childish nickname, the one that Momo Hinamori, his ex- fiancé had given him. The Hitsugaya and Hinamori family had always been close friends, so an arranged marriage between the two families' heirs wasn't surprising, but once Momo's family business went into debt, Hitsugaya's Grandmother cancelled the marriage plan immediately and gave the Hinamori family the cold shoulder.
"Yes, Grandmother?" The white-haired male replied, mentally rolling his eyes.
"Have you found the girl yet? I know cancelling the marriage plan was a rash decision on my part, but I won't see you married to an ex-Number Five," snapped his Grandmother sharply, her temper giving way. Her grandson was nearing the age of twenty-five, and God knew how many years she had ahead of her. She wanted to hold her great-grandson just once before joining Heaven.
"No, not yet. I apologize," Hitsugaya sighed into the phone, knowing a long rant was coming.
"You have until the end of this week," said his Grandmother, exasperated. She hung up without a good-bye, leaving a bewildered Hitsugaya to continue to stare at the now dead phone. Had his Grandmother just let him go without a twenty-minute rant on how he was the only heir to the Hitsugaya fortune, and now that he was nearing twenty-five, it would be best to find a befitting wife? He finally let go of the phone, and began to rub his sore temples, knowing a headache was inevitable. He decided to use his last resort decision, knowing he was going to regret and pay for it later.
"MS. MATSUMOTO!" He cried out, his smooth voice ringing throughout the whole building.
"Yes, Mr. Hitsugaya?" questioned the CEO's loyal secretary as she poked her head through the door, not bothering to knock.
"Come in. And shut the door behind you," Hitsugaya said urgently, tapping his slender index finger on his marble desk. Rangiku did as she was told with a small grin on her face; seeing her boss having lost even one-tenth of his cool was definitely not an everyday thing. She sat down on one of the luxuriously plush chairs; a chair that even normal CEOs couldn't afford.
"It's about getting a girlfriend isn't it?" answered Matsumoto, beating Hitsugaya to the chase.
"That's right," sighed Hitsugaya, not the least bit surprised at Matsumoto's knowledge. She was, of course, know as the "Queen of Gossip" around here. "Do you have a plan of any sort?"
"Well," started Matsumoto, "I don't see why you don't go to the marriage set-ups arranged by your Grandmother," Matsumoto raised both hands, preventing her boss from cutting in her sentence, "but, have you ever thought about "renting" a girlfriend?"
"... Renting a girlfriend? Like, how you rent a car or a house?" Hitsugaya asked, stunned at where the conversation was leading to. Matsumoto rolled her baby blue pools at her boss' knowledge of the love world. Sure, he was the big CEO and heir of the Hitsugaya foundation, he was "Number One" of Japan, he was 6'0" with lightly tanned muscles, and he had girls swooning over him where ever he went, but when it came to love, he was an absolute newbie. His only love experience was with Momo Hinamori, his ex-fiancé, and their closest moment was a hug on Christmas. Which, to Matsumoto, did NOT count as love.
"Yes, kind of like that. You basically pay money to a girl and she pretends to be your girlfriend for as long as you want her to be. But, mind you, if you want to hug or kiss her or make her do something out of the contract, you'll have to pay extra," she explained to her boss, not unlike how a teacher taught an eager student how multiplication worked. "But, it's not like you can't afford it or anything," she added as an afterthought after considering her boss' obvious wealth.
"And... Where can I find... Such a girl?" asked Hitsugaya slowly, calculating any cons of the plan suggested by his secretary at the same time.
"Oh, many places! Pubs, clubs, malls, in dark alle-", Matsumoto, seeing the color drain off of her boss' face, especially at the last one, quickly closed her crimson-lipstick coated mouth. "Basically... Everywhere. Pay a pretty girl that's single a lot of money and she's yours."
"So, are you implying that there is no specific business or location where they rent girlfriends?" asked Hitsugaya, realizing his question sounded dumb after he said it. Rangiku stared at him, not believing what her boss had just said. She would have laughed, but she knew the result was that her monthly pay would suffer. Oh well. She could laugh at home later.
"Of course not! What, pretty girls are just going to wait around until a guy "rents" them? Who's that stupid?" replied Rangiku, a goofy smile on her features. Hitsugaya coughed, looking away.
"Well, I'll entrust you with looking for a suitable girlfriend, I suppose," said Hitsugaya, sighing. He wouldn't be caught dead in a ... pub.
"Any requirements? Like, height, hair, how pretty she is, or what style clothes she wears..." inquired Matsumoto, whipping out a notebook from nowhere and looking around for a pen in her pockets until she remembered the one on her ear.
"You should know my Grandmother by now," replied the CEO, ready to get back to work.
"A traditional girl that is at least half a foot shorter than you with a natual hair color and has never gotten a perm before. Ideally, she should wear a kimono everywhere, but due to this generation, only around the house and in festivals. She should be pretty with no make-up on and able to turn heads. Am I right?"
"And able to play a variety of instruments," deadpanned Hitsugaya, not bothering to look up from the pile of papers in front of him which, to him, needed his undivided attention.
But, because of this.
He wasn't able to see the devilish smile on his secretary's face as she wrote down the last detail on her notebook.
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End Of Chapter 1
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I started this chapter like, a billion years ago, and I never finished it. Awk'z. So I decided to finish it, LOL. I probably won't be updating the next chapter in a while...