And… I'm back! Well, I felt bad since for the past seven weeks all I've been posting is my Vampire Knight story. I figured that I needed to post something Bleach related for a change and then this hit me in the dead of the night, prompting me to clamber out of bed and search, half-blind, for a piece of paper and pen to scribble it down for future reference.
So now I'm on holiday and I've finally gotten around to typing this up. I know it's pretty short but I'm rather pleased with it.
Title: Kuchiki Rukia, the Glorified Courier
Author: MeteorLeopard (HoneyBadger)
When I think of all the years of hard, hard training that I've put in to become a Shinigami strong enough to face an Espada on my own, it seems almost shameful that my skills are being put to use as a mail-man. Or mail-woman, in this case.
But I'm not complaining – too much – about my plight. After all, it is for a good cause that I make a routine trip between two worlds every day and dodge the awkward questions from Ukitake-taicho about my far-too-frequent inter-dimensional trips and evade the very keen observations from my Nii-sama about the growing bags that are developing under my eyes. Traversing entire dimensions every day really takes it out of you.
I can't pin the blame on anyone aside from myself really. Myself and my utter lack of ability to just say 'no' in the face of a possible real-life melodrama. The thought that I could actually be part of that young, budding relationship had simply been too much of an incentive for me to refuse.
It all began when Matsumoto burst through the kitchen window, scattering poor Yuzu's neatly chopped onions all over the clean kitchen floor. Apologizing airily whilst standing in the center of the mess she'd made, the busty fukutaicho promptly began rummaging through her gaping cleavage, muttering something under her breath.
Finally, and with a triumphant, "Aha!" she pulled forth an immaculately folded sheet of paper and smiled happily at me. "Rukia-chan, can you just give this to Ichigo for me? Taicho wanted me to deliver this to him and I would go and find the strawberry myself except that the stores here are about to close and-"
Cutting the woman off, I dismissed her with a wave of my hand and a simple, "I got it, I got it," and took the folded note from her. Smiling brightly, Matsumoto took off through the window once more, paying no further heed to the scattered onions on the floor. I scanned the letter hurriedly - deciding that if it had been strictly confidential it would have been sealed – and found it to simply be a request of accommodation from Hitsugaya-taicho. I recalled that both he and Matsumoto were due to spend a week in the World of the Living shortly and would need a place to stay as Inoue was away, writing an important university admissions test.
Folding the note once more and resolving to give it to Ichigo when I next ran into the carrot-top, I spotted the mess of onions on the floor again. Sighing, I dedicated the following five minutes of my afterlife to cleaning the tear-inducing vegetable from the wooden kitchen floor so that Yuzu wouldn't have to trouble herself with it when she got back from the store.
When I heard footsteps approaching, I assumed it to be Yuzu and continued trying to pick the many pieces of onion up. (Later Yuzu introduced me to the space under the cupboard where she kept the small hand broom.) By the time that I realized that the person who'd entered the kitchen wasn't Yuzu, I was just a little too late to stop them from reading the note that I'd left lying on the kitchen counter. When I looked up, I found a frowning Karin scrutinizing the note before her, apparently trying to make sense from the message.
It wasn't a problem for her to be reading such a letter – one afternoon she'd told me herself exactly how much contact she'd had with the Spirit World and I knew the extents of her reiatsu capabilities – and so I didn't kick up a fuss. After explaining to a confused Karin the exact circumstances of Matsumoto's visit, the girl nodded and pocketed the note. "I'm going to see Ichi-nii right now at the soccer fields. I'll give it to him."
I didn't think much of it.
The following day, Hitsugaya-taicho and Matsumoto-fukutaicho arrived to stay. I had wondered before exactly where Hitsugaya-taicho went to patrol for hours on end when he was in the World of the Living, but had put it down to his sheer and utter work dedication. Now I was given a different angle of thinking when I happened to see him heading in the same direction that Karin had taken off earlier. I dismissed the thought as coincidence but when they both returned to the Kurosaki-clinic within minutes of each other that evening, my suspicions were peaked.
It was time for super-Chappy-detective Kuchiki to go into action!
So, donning my brand new Chappy cap, I secretly shadowed Hitsugaya-taicho the following day. I knew that my chances of actually staying undetected were minimal but bravely pushed on. Also, the shock of actually seeing the stoic captain willingly spending time with Ichigo's little tomboy-sister might have contributed to the momentary lapse of my reiatsu control. As such I was not too surprised to find that, that evening after dinner, Hitsugaya-taicho called for a private word with me. In no uncertain terms did the young captain then make clear to me that, should I breathe a word of what I saw that afternoon, I'd be coming up on the short end of Hyourinmaru's freeze-ray. He'd put it more eloquently and less incriminating but the basic message was there.
Also the fact that, should the Soul Society find out about Karin's close relationship with numerous high-ranking Shinigami – such as Renji, Hitsugaya-taicho and Matsumoto-fukutaicho – and her levels of hidden reiatsu, they'd make life difficult for the young girl. This also helped to wring an agreement from me. I didn't want Karin involved much further in the dangerous world of spirits than she already was and perhaps this knowledge, more than anything, helped to assure Hitsugaya-taicho of my silence.
As promised, I did not say a word.
At the end of the week, when the time came for Hitsugaya-taicho and Matsumoto-fukutaicho to return to the Soul Society, Karin went with them to the Urahara store to see them off. I stood beside Ichigo, just in case his big-brother instincts kicked in. Luckily though, neither Karin nor Hitsugaya-taicho did anything too personal other than send one another quick nods and a happy wave.
Leaving the Urahara store later, I heard Ichigo mutter grumpily, "Why does she get to call him by his first name without having her head bitten off?"
I almost snickered. Poor, naïve strawberry.
The following day, Karin approached me with a silver cellphone in her one hand and a folded note in the other. A little awkwardly, she told me that Toushirou had forgotten his Soul Pager and, if I were going to deliver it, would I mind dropping off that note for him too? A little stunned but quickly pulling myself together, I took the Soul Pager and note from her and promised to return them both to him.
It was probably wrong and horribly immoral, but as soon as I'd left the Kurosaki house behind and was on my merry way to Urahara's, I read the note. I was surprised, though not entirely shocked, to find that Karin had actually taken the trouble to write out a thank-you note to the young captain for – wait for it – helping her team to win a soccer game. A soccer game! I almost squealed at the thought of the serious captain actually shoving his pride aside to stick up for a little human girl!
When I entered the 10th Division office a few minutes later, I was relieved to find that Matsumoto-fukutaicho was out somewhere and that it was only Hitsugaya-taicho left sitting in the office. Handing him his Soul Pager and the note, which he accepted with a little surprise, I watched as his eyes scanned the paper and widened just a little. Clearly he hadn't been expecting her thanks. For a moment, the young captain frowned and then pulled a new sheet of paper onto his workspace. He wrote quickly and then folded it. "Kuchiki," he said, addressing me formally. "You are returning to the World of the Living now, correct?"
I nodded, an inkling of an idea forming in my head as to what he'd written on that paper but not quite daring to believe it. I kept my face neutrally straight as I nodded. "Yes, Hitsugaya-taicho."
"Good," he said, handing me the paper. "Then hand this to Kurosaki Karin."
I almost wanted to grin and jump but, as it was, I remained serious and simply took the note from him. "Of course, Hitsugaya-taicho."
It had all gone downhill from there. From that day onward, I was roped into being the impromptu courier again and again. I suppose that they trusted me enough not to read their messages and to keep their communications secret. It almost made me feel bad about the fact that I was actually writing the messages all down in my own little notepad. They were so cute and awkward around one another, even in letters, that I just couldn't help but be tempted to write a book about them. Ichigo obviously grew suspicious of my many trips back and forth but luckily I managed to brush them off due to business for the Seireitei newspapers. This seemed to appease the carrot-top and he stopped asking questions, though he continued to send me odd glances when I left through his window in the afternoons. I wasn't about to tell the insanely strong big-brother substitute that I was helping his little sister to grow close to a Shinigami captain. I liked my head right were it was, thank you very much.
Of course the trips were taking their toll on me. And yet I continued to write down every note, every exchange, every sentence, every scribble in the margins. It was worth it. I was determined that, one day, I'd write up their little letter-romance and sell it to make millions. Information gathering was tough, but there were perks.
Such as the giant, super-sized Chappy plush-doll that I got sent from Hitsugaya-taicho for my birthday. The card attached to it simply read, "As a gesture of thanks", but it said enough. Even Karin had gotten me a present. Sure, Yuzu had helped to pick it out but the fact that Karin had bothered to remember meant more than anything. The canary-yellow sweater with a picture of a cartoon rabbit chewing on a carrot was now high among my favourites. I even wore a pair of pants called jeans with them and Karin complimented that pants suited me rather well.
I slept with the giant plush Chappy every night, just to remind myself that this whole messenger routine might just be worth it… even if it made the space in Ichigo's closet smaller than it already was.
And when, many months later, Hitsugaya-taicho showed up on the Kurosaki doorstep with an awkward air about him, trying to explain to a highly suspicious Ichigo just why he was here to pick up his little sister on Valentines Day, I grinned like a maniac.
Oh yes, it was SO worth it.
A/N: Just to let you know, I'm busy working on a multi-chapter Hitsukarin story right at this moment. I'll do my best to get it out to you as soon as possible and finish this before the holidays end. Wish me luck!
Oh, and please review ^_^