Title: Crack The Shutters
Rating: T
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance
Couple: Primary is HitsuMatsu (with elements of GinRan)

Crack The Shutters
Chapter 1.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya didn't realise it was his birthday, until he spotted the watermelon on his desk, a love heart engraved into its flesh. Maybe he should feel impressed that whoever performed the engraving managed to not make a mess, or spill much juice. Still, he wasn't really one who appreciated explicit messages like these, no matter who they were from. And even if he did adore watermelon, the love heart was not necessary. Inappropriate, actually.

Now, this was either a prank or a gift from someone close to him. It couldn't be from a secret crush! Tōshirō would be aware if someone fancied him; he was good at discovering such things. Plus, the Gotei 13 just riddled with gossip. From the slightest implication of a colleague crushing on another, the rumours spread like crazy.

A sigh escaped his lips. Sitting at his desk, he pulled the watermelon closer and inspected the love heart, as if expecting the culprit behind this to suddenly be revealed. However, he didn't have to ponder over the matter for long. Rolling his eyes, Tōshirō raised his head.

'Matsumoto, if you insist on buying me fruit, at least wait until the day has ended.'

'Aww, I was hoping having a watermelon beside you would get you through the day! I know how much you love it. If you want some more I do––'

'It's too big!' Tōshirō scowled. 'Where did you get it?' Honestly, he had never seen a watermelon of this size before. The damn thing almost filled half the desk. Where did she get it? Either Matsumoto had been growing this herself for a very long time, or––

'So you don't like it? You're so ungrateful, Captain. I had to think hard into this, and you turn around and complain. That's the last time I put in any effort for you.' Then, to Tōshirō's horror, Rangiku approached the desk and took the watermelon from him.

'I didn't say I didn't want it! Matsumoto!' Desperately, the Shinigami reached over and tried to grab the fruit out of her grip. Of course, he only ended up sprawling across the desk helplessly.

Clearly, Rangiku was amused with his urgency. Even though Hitsugaya liked to act cold and ruthless out of the office, he never failed to slip up sometimes in front of her. That was probably why she enjoyed antagonising him so much. Just for the responses. 'Mm, you're going to have to say "please", first. Like a well-mannered boy you are.'

That was it! Tōshirō had to refrain himself from screaming then and there. 'A Captain does not need to beg his Lieutenant for a piece of damn fruit! Also, I am not a boy, Matsumoto!'

'Oh, sorry. Like a well-mannered girl?'

Tōshirō's left eye twitched when she smiled at him. However, she knew exactly what he meant. Tōshirō was no longer the boy she knew when they first met. Now, he had grown. As a Soul, Hitsugaya naturally aged slowly, but finally his maturity was beginning to show: his face angular, broader shoulders and a far more masculine appearance. The one trait about him she did notice, however, was his height. Tōshirō had grown spectacularly, at least three inches taller than she.

It was weird, though. Rangiku wasn't sure if she preferred her Captain as the young, cute little boy. At least, then, it didn't appear awkward when she doted him. Yet, at least his personality was relatively the same: easy to anger, but still chilling before those who didn't know him well.

Rangiku said nothing, and raised a brow, waiting for that simple word. Unfortunately, Tōshirō was a stubborn ass at times, and his pride usually outweighed his intelligence. No way was he going to say "please" to this woman!

'Give. Me. The. Watermelon.'

Sighing, Matsumoto eyed his dear fruit then at him, looking sad and hurt. '... I still think I deserve a "thank you" at least.'

Knowing for her so long, Tōshirō was aware of Rangiku's charms. How she managed to have men crumbling at her feet whenever she so much as smiled. Another was by acting upset–– she was very expressive, and her expressions were difficult to ignore. Tōshirō, however, liked to wish he was immune to her good-looks, though.

Liked to wish...

'What's with the love heart anyway? You're such an idiot, Matsumoto. If anyone saw that, they'd start reading too much into it.'

'... What would they think?'

Either she was acting dumb, or she was actually being sincere. 'I don't know!' He exclaimed, clenching his fists. 'Probably that–– you know.'

Rangiku pretended to think for a couple of seconds, before shrugging, sitting at her desk again. 'I'm afraid I don't, Captain.' Placing the watermelon at her desk, she studied the love heart for a moment. 'I actually think it looks quite nice.'

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tōshirō groaned in frustration. 'Love hearts imply that you love me!' As soon as he said this, his cheeks blushed a bright red. Gods, this was an awkward conversation.

When Rangiku laughed, Tōshirō was tempted to slam his forehead against the desk. 'Ooh, you're so cute, Captain! Is that what you want? Me to love you? Aww––'

'Matsumoto, shut up!'

'Of course I love you. Who wouldn't?'

'That's not what I meant! Not that sort of love. I mean––' The two watched each other for a while, and he knew she knew what he was saying. But God damn her, she was going to be difficult about it. '––You're basically implying that you love me romantically, Matsumoto. Coming from someone like you, I thought you'd know better!'

'Know better?' Her smile was infuriating. 'Haha, well at least I don't see everything as a sign of me hitting on you. You're almost acting as if you wish that were the case...' A pause. The smile faded, and she met his gaze. 'Is it?'

'No!'

Then he realised: they were arguing over a flipping watermelon.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Tōshirō fell back into his chair and glared at her. Why was it impossible to have a proper conversation with this woman? Almost anything she did managed to pull a nerve, and she bloody well knew it. If he was going to be frank, though, he wouldn't mind too much if she were hitting on him. Not that he wanted her to.

'Oh! I almost forgot!'

Watching his Lieutenant open one of the drawers attached to her desk, Tōshirō hoped she wasn't going to reveal what he thought she would. Not to his surprise, a bottle of alcohol was soon revealed.

'When one celebrates, there must always be liquor!'

'I'm not drinking around you.'

'But you're still going to drink, right?'

Pursing his lips, the Captain tried his best to keep himself calm. 'Get that alcohol out of my sight! You're lucky I'm just going to turn a blind eye. If I see it in this office again, or anywhere near me, I swear you will pay.'

The smile was gone again, this time replaced with a huff. 'You're so grumpy. No wonder you're still single.'

'What's my relationship status got to do with me refusing alcohol?! And from you! I'd consider myself quite wise. You're the last person I'd have a drink with.'

A gasp. 'Well. You're not having this watermelon now.'

Slamming his hands onto the desk, Tōshirō jarred his teeth. 'Don't make me come over there.'

For a second, Tōshirō spotted a darker side of her in her little smirk. It was gone in an instant, though. 'I just think you should appreciate it when I give you a present.' Then she frowned. 'Come to think of it, who else has given you a gift today?'

No one. Absolutely no one. Not even his dear friend Momo. Yet that was completely irrelevant! 'I'm sure they've just been busy.'

'I've been busy too! I'm exhausted.'

'You haven't done shit all week, Matsumoto! In fact, I'm sitting here doing your paperwork because you're so overdue. How can you be exhausted?'

Rangiku was cringing at how loud his voice was. 'You have such a temper, Captain! No wonder you already have white hair––'

'Next word that comes out of your mouth and you will be punished.'

'Punished? What could you do to punish––' Bam!

In half a second Tōshirō was at her desk, dropping at least a ton of reports for her to fill in. Rangiku's mouth slowly fell open. He can't really expect me to do all of that, surely. Meeting her Captain's satisfied look, she realised–– Holy shit, he's serious.

'I haven't finished what you told me to do this morning,' she tried.

'No excuses! I want all of this done by this afternoon, you hear me?'

Panicking, Rangiku struggled to think up another way out of this: 'I have this medical condition where if I work too hard then I end up...' Tōshirō threw her a blunt look. '... Fainting...?'

'I also have a medical condition, Matsumoto. You know why? Because you are really driving me crazy.'

'That's so flattering, Captain. I didn't know you felt that way––'

'Shut up!'

Now that Tōshirō had matured (appearance wise!), she was able to actually notice his looks. When he was angry, his features seemed to stun her the most. She couldn't help but love that when his eyes furrowed his forehead wrinkled in the middle, and that his eyes seemed to trap her in place, electrifying but icy. As if, freezing her on the spot. His voice had broken, and it was deeper, sometimes echoing the office, dominating and, dare she admit it, quite sexy.

It was sad, though. She still remembered him as a boy, or a baby in her eyes. How childish and sweet he could be without meaning to. Although it had been at least ten years, it didn't feel that way. As far as she was concerned, he was the same boy only yesterday. Standing before her, today, he was a man, an adult. Handsome and powerful. White hair gloriously wild and untamed.

... but still sensitive and easy to tease.

Despite how lovely he was to look at, Tōshirō still couldn't scare her. Not with words, anyway. It was funny how he just couldn't think of a way to stop her from talking. Admittedly, Rangiku could have her foot in her mouth, but she just liked to talk. Maybe it was just as well her Captain was silent the majority of the time. At least she was able to chatter with him all day and night without being interrupted.

So she did not pry her eyes away from his gaze, as if daring Hitsugaya to pounce on her or scold her. Tōshirō remained put, then accidentally twitched a little smile, before looking at the watermelon she gave him. Picking the fruit up, he looked at her shortly, before making his way for the exit.

'I have to go to a meeting now, which should last an hour. Then I have other places to be. When I return, I expect all of your paperwork on my desk.' Hitsugaya struggled to not rejoice at her troubled expression. This was torture for her. And it was beautiful. 'Am I clear, Lieutenant?'

'Very,' she scowled.

'Excellent. Try not to have too much fun.'

Without even a glance back, Tōshirō left the office, watermelon safely in hand. Even though he had been immensely amused back then, he still wanted her to complete the task. Matsumoto was a slacker, big time, but she had to do her duty sometimes. Tōshirō had wasted sleep over filing her reports which she should be filing herself.

It was always a wonder why everyone said he was so lucky to have her as Vice-Captain.

When he got back, however, his desk was empty.

It was typical of Rangiku to not complete her work on time, and, usually, he let her off. However, today, he actually felt insulted. No, "insulted" wasn't the word. Upset? No, Tōshirō didn't get upset, not with anyone. Whatever emotion he felt, he didn't like it, and in that moment, he didn't like her. I've done so much so she can keep her damn job. And what does she give me in return? A fucking watermelon!

Slamming said fruit onto his desk, Tōshirō exhaled and approached the window. When Matsumoto returned, she would have the biggest scolding in a life time. Hitsugaya recounted in his head what he would do: order her to close the door as soon as she entered, to sit down, and shut her mouth while he told her off. Yes, that was what a Captain should do to a lazy colleague.

When he heard the door creak open, Histugaya spun around, 'Sit down now and don't you dare––' Then he stopped, realising what Rangiku was holding in her hands. A strange, fluttery feeling was noticeable in his belly when she entered the office properly, and placed the cake onto his desk. One candle stuck out of the chocolate icing, and it looked like heaven.

'Seeing as you were upset with my watermelon, I thought you'd be happier with a cake.'

Was she honestly that affected by what he said before? Hitsugaya was only joking, though, or partly. He would never have wanted her to waste time and buy him another gift. He smiled, then, warmly at her, possibly the warmest smile he had ever made. Rangiku found it hard to maintain eye contact with him so looked back at the cake, sliding it his way.

'Well? Do you like it?'

'Yes,' he said. 'I love it, thank you.'

'Good! You have no idea how many shops I had to search in to find a cake you'd like. I did find a few which sold ones with smiley faces on them, and I thought maybe you'd get the message if I bought you that one, you know sort of a sign saying smile more. But then I realised you're quite sensitive so you'd rather I wasn't so direct. Then I found these other cakes, one of them was so boring, all it was was sponge, it makes you wonder how boring someone has to be to buy that, and I actually started looking around for a cake with watermelon in it, but then I realised that sounds really gross who would make a cake like that, I mean––'

'Matsumoto,' Tōshirō had to enhance his voice slightly so she could hear over her ramblings. 'I love it. It's perfect.'

This time, Rangiku had nothing to say. Instead, she smiled at him, almost timidly.

'By the way, where is your paperwork? Did you manage to get it done?'

At once her face brightened and her smile widened. 'You're going to be so happy with me, Captain! Not only did I get all of mine sent off, but I finished yours as well, and it's all done. So you now have the rest of the day to celebrate.'

Hitsugaya wondered if she was joking, but Rangiku was painfully honest. Anyway, she was an awful lier, and it was clear she was telling the truth. Tōshirō had expected her to do her work, but his? That was unheard of for any Vice-Captain! She went through all of that effort just so he could spend his birthday out of work?

As much as he wanted to deny this, Tōshirō was touched, and he caught himself smiling again at her. Rangiku did like it when he was happy, but all this smiling was getting weird. She didn't see her Captain as the joyful type. Well, in actuality, he wasn't. No one had been able to unravel what made him so detached and cold.

'Thank you,' he said softly. 'I do appreciate all of this, even the watermelon. Seeing as I do have the day off, maybe I should spend it with you? You don't have anything else to do, after all.'

Then he realised what he had just asked.

'Ooh, Captain, you do know it is illegal for us to be dating!' Rangiku teased, fanning herself with her hand.

'I––' Tōshirō growled. 'Damn it...'

'Aww, have you gone all bashful now?' She laughed, pulling his cheeks. 'Your face is the colour of Renji's hair!'

Yes, she did drive him crazy, in more ways than one. Upon touching his face, Rangiku pulled a disgusted expression.

'Eurgh, you need to shave, Captain! You're all prickly. You know, I much prefer a man who knows how to groom himself,' she said, flicking her hair.

Tōshirō cracked his neck, teeth jarred. 'Really. Well, I have been working, Matsumoto. I have been working so hard, which means I have not had the time to kiss my own reflection, and groom myself! That is because you are such a slacker, and never get your work done on time! I actually have to spend night and day doing your work!'

'How is that so, when I just finished your work for you?'

'That was once!'

'You know what you need?'

'If you say alcohol, I will throw this cake at you.'

At first, Rangiku was offended, then she shrugged. 'It tastes nice, so I suppose that wouldn't be all bad.'

Was... this lady even real? Hitsugaya inhaled sharply, and exhaled slowly, resting a hand at his desk. It was unfair of him to start scolding her when she had done so much for him in such a short amount of time. Damn her. Damn her. Plus, Tōshirō naturally had a soft spot for his Lieutenant. He knew she had been traumatised by past events, and, although she hid it well, Tōshirō was aware these events continued to haunt her.

And whenever Rangiku was unhappy, the affect it had on her Captain was immense.

'We're trailing off on a tangent here.'

'I think you are actually, Captain.'

'Whatever. Look, how about we spend the day together? Platonically, I mean. I think I owe you a drink or two anyway.' What, I do? Was Tōshirō insane to be handing Rangiku Matsumoto free drinks? 'And––' Oh, he had to admit it. Out of everyone he knew, Hitsugaya would rather spend his birthday with her than anyone else. Nope, he was too proud. He would not fall into such a trap. '––What else are you going to do for the rest of the day?'

'Oh, so much! Seeing as you intend to spend it with me, you can come too!'

'Come where...?'

'There's a fantastic clothes shop you should visit. Definitely has your style of clothing for sale.'

How does she even know my style of clothing? I don't even have one anyway! 'Wait–– I never agreed to us going shopping together. I'm going to be sitting on my ass all day while you try on dress after dress. That is not how I want to spend my birthday.'

'Don't be such a party-pooper! Of course I'm going to make this day all about you. That's what you want, isn't it? That's why I'm taking you shopping with me.'

'I really don't like going shopping, Matsumoto.'

'You will after today.'

Somehow, he doubted that, but her enthusiasm was hard to ignore. Tōshirō pouted, but knew he wouldn't have anything better to do. He might as well trust Rangiku and spend the day with her. God forbid. 'Fine. I get to choose what we do first, though. I really want to have some ice cream. The mint kind. I've always been fond of that, and it's been a long time since I've had any.'

'That's fine with me.'

'Oh, and, also, you've got to let me speak, okay? I don't want you gossiping the whole time. I really don't care who is going out with who.'

Rangiku frowned at him. 'Come on, Captain, I'm not that bad.' Whatever offence she felt quickly vanished when she gleefully added: 'There is a fantastic pub you need to visit as well. We can go there later in the day when it opens. The liquor they sell is fabulous––'

'I'll have a sip, but not too much. And I won't be carrying you back home.'

'Wow, you are such a gentleman. Oh, is your watermelon coming along with us?'

Tōshirō gave her a sarcastic look. 'Yeah, I'm totally going to be carrying that with me while we go shopping. Matsumoto, you have to promise not to––' Act embarrassing? Be stupid? Be yourself? '––Behave,' he said shortly.

Although he was subtle with what he wanted, Rangiku seemed to understand. 'Yes, Sir.'

Whether or not she would carry such behaviour through, however, was a different matter entirely.

author's note: I had to write a chaptered ficcy on these two because I adore them. For comfort's sake, Tōshirō does appear older, as he has aged a lot since the manga, but it doesn't matter so much. He is about seventy-years-old anyway! To begin with, I was worried I wouldn't pull off Rangiku well. She is, by far, the cheeriest character in the entire show (one of the reasons I was so heartbroken that Gin's death completely destroyed her), and I don't really write about cheery characters. Hopefully, I did all right.

This story shall be short as it only revolves around Tōshirō's birthday (and maybe the day after). However, I will focus a lot on their relationship, and also their relationships with others. While, at first, this fic appears more comedy, there shall be elements of angst later on. Why there shall be will be revealed very soon.

Thank you loads for reading! I admit, I'm quite nervous about publishing this because I'm so new to the fandom. If you could leave some feedback telling me your thoughts, I'd greatly appreciate it. Expect an update very soon.