Author's Note: I was kind of stuck and having writer's block on my other fic, The Pursuit of Happiness, so I started a new one. It might not turn out very well, but whatever. I'll finish the other one as soon as the inspiration gets to me. In the meantime, here's my newsest work-in-progress.
"Wow, it must suck to live here," Ichigo mused. He had come to Soul Society as a substitute shinigami, thus being ambassador and link between the real world and Soul Society. The weather was hot and stagnant, not a pleasant day to be outdoors, but Ichigo had nowhere else to hang out except outside with Renji. "Following orders all day, and nothing but ugly mugs to look at."
"Shut up," Renji retorted. The two had been resting under the shade of a tree somewhere near the sixth division barracks, being the good buddies they were. "You'll need to learn how to follow orders, too. When you die, you'll be stuck here, unless you die again."
"This is boring," the strawberry yawned, stretching and rumpling his hair, achieving nothing, aside from making it even messier than it already was. "Let's go hang out with the eleventh division guys. They're fun. Tons more fun than you, I bet."
"Ikkaku and Yumichika?"
"Yeah."
"I don't see why not," Renji shrugged as he stood up, followed by Ichigo. "They're never working over there, so I bet they're not busy right now."
So the two set off, moving quickly with the aid of shunpo through the rows and rows of buildings that made up the Seireitei. Past the seventh division, past the eighth, past the ninth, until they finally stopped to rest for a while near the tenth division barracks.
"Damn, it's hot," Ichigo whined. "You guys don't even have air conditioning up here. It sucks. What are you guys, Amish?"
"What's Amish?" Renji inquired curiously.
"They're these freaks who live in the 'States. They don't use computers and air conditioning and electrical stuff like that."
"What's the 'States?"
"Some other country."
"Is that so?"
"Yep, and it's never as hot over there as it in Soul Society, I bet," Ichigo responded, tugging at the collar of his shihakusho uncomfortably. "And it's not just any hot. It's the type of hot that's all gross and sticky. Way more humid than it is in the real world," he complained as they continued on.
"Get used to it and take it like a man, strawberry."
"Oh, shut up!"
"Make me! Hey, by the way, Ichigo…Ichigo?"
Renji turned to the side, only to find Ichigo wasn't next to him anymore. He looked to the other side. No Ichigo in sight, not even a single orange hair. He swiveled his head to look behind himself. Aha. There he was.
The strawberry was simply standing there like an idiot, staring at something. Upon closer inspection, Renji found he wasn't staring at something, but rather, someone.
In particular, a white-haired boy in a captain's haori, standing before of a large group of uniformed shinigami in front of the tenth division barracks.
"Oi, Ichigo! What're you doing?" the redhead demanded as he made his way back to Ichigo's side. "What're you ogling at?"
"Who's he?" Ichigo demanded bluntly.
"Who're you talking about?"
"The small one. Is he a captain? 'Cause he's wearing the haori and everything…"
"Yeah, you seem to be staring at the ass of the one and only Hitsugaya-taichou."
"Huh," Ichigo simply grunted in response. "Seriously? But he's only a kid…Hey, is there something wrong with him? His facial color doesn't look so great."
"It's the heat," Renji explained. "Hitsugaya-taichou never does so well in the heat."
"Tenth-division taichou?"
"Yep."
"Man, when I die and become an official shinigami, I'd sure like to be in the tenth division…" Ichigo sighed.
"Are you insane!?" Renji spluttered. "You want to be in the tenth division!?"
"Definitely! I mean, I wouldn't mind having a pretty kid like that for my taichou. Never seen anyone like him before."
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"No, you do not know, you idiot!" Renji scolded. "That's Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro we're talking about here! No one in the right mind wants to be in tenth division! For the love of all things good, he's the weilder of Hyorinmaru!"
"Hyorinmaru?" Ichigo repeated in disbelief. "No way! Not that kid! Rukia told me that Hyorinmaru was the strongest and scariest ice-type zanpaku-to in not just the Seireitei, but also the entire Soul Society!"
"And she's right! You have no idea how scary Hitsugaya-taichou is. His zanpaku-to can freeze your blood, literally. Sure, the kid's got a real pretty face, but he's also got a heart as cold as the ice he works with. No, colder…Like dry ice. You know what's colder than dry ice?"
"No, what?"
"I'll tell you what. Hitsugaya Toshiro. I know his fukutaichou personally. She complains to me all the time of mountains of paperwork that he makes her do and how mean he is to everyone in his division. I've heard rumors that if you fall asleep during meetings or mission briefings, he'll cut out your tongue. Take a good look at him, because that should be the last time you do. Hitsugaya-taichou is someone we'll spend the rest of our lives wanting, and never having, and always avoiding, 'cause he's a cold-hearted kid who's incapable of loving, got it?"
"No way!" Ichigo insisted. "You're wrong about him! He can't be as bad as you say he is! Look at him…He looks like he's going to faint from heat stroke any second now! He's really…He's really fragile. More than you'd think."
Renji let out a long sigh. "I suppose he did love someone, once."
"Really? Ha! I told you…Hang on, what happened?"
"There was this guy he used to go out with," Renji explained nonchalantly. "Kusaka Sojiro, that was his name. Nice guy. Funny, too. Loved Hitsugaya-taichou to bits. And Hitsugaya-taichou loved him, too."
"Well, where is he now?"
"Dead. And after that, Hitsugaya-taichou turned into an empty shell of ice."
"Oh. That's…That's tragic, I guess."
"You bet. Well, just keep watching him, and you'll see what a heartless brat he really is."
"Is there any reason why I did not receive a report from the latest patrol in the real world?"
The entire group standing in front of the tenth division office, and though all of them grown men, they couldn't help but feel a slight chill in their bones, flinching at the cold tone of voice used by their young and almost innocent-looking captain.
"F-Forgive us, Hitsugaya-taichou, but…"
"No, I don't want to hear any excuses," the white-haired boy standing in front of the group and admonishing them bluntly cut the speaker off. "I just want to know, where the hell is the report?"
Trembling, the unfortunate shinigami who had just spoken reached into the folds of his shihakusho and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. He stepped out of line and fearfully held it out to his captain, who took it with his slender fingers.
Hitsugaya pursed his lips distastefully as he unfolded the paper and scanned it with stunningly colored aquamarine eyes. "Late," he commented icily. "Three days late. And why is that, may I ask?"
"I-I'm sorry…But I forgot, and…And…"
"Never mind, silence yourself. Now I want to know who wrote this."
"It was me, sir," came another voice.
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, muttering, "I know monkeys with neater handwriting than yours." He turned to a tall and attractive strawberry-blonde woman next to her, who seemed to be his fukutaichou, in other words, his assistant captain.
"Matsumoto."
"Yes, taichou?"
"Throw this pathetic excuse for a report away."
"Sure thing, taichou."
"And you, you who wrote it. I want you to re-do it, in legible handwriting, and I want it in my office before eight o'clock tonight, understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Taichou?" Matsumoto whispered, poking her captain's shoulder. "Ne, taichou."
"What is it? I'm busy right now."
With a giggle, the buxom fukutaichou gestured to two figures standing a good distance away. "That orange-haired shinigami, the one standing next to Renji-kun…he's ogling your ass," she snickered.
Hitsugaya's face instantly flushed a bright red as the group of shinigami he had been addressing began chuckling amongst themselves.
"Ne, taichou! Maybe you can get laid tonight!"
"Shut up," Hitsugaya growled heatedly, but with no avail.
"Ooh, taichou! The punk's not bad-looking! Maybe you should go talk to him!"
"Go for it! Go for third base and beyond!"
"We're behind you all the way, taichou!"
"Hey, taichou! Today's a good day as any to get shot of your virginity…Or did you already lose it to that Kusaka guy?"
That final comment seemed to be the last straw.
"I said for all of you useless wretches to shut up!" Hitsugaya shouted angrily, the temperature dropping exponentially. This was more than enough to make everyone fall into immediate silence.
"Who just said that about Kusaka?" he demanded venomously.
"I-It was me, sir…" a shinigami piped up shamefully.
"You," Hitsugaya hissed in a voice so cold that everyone seemed to involuntarily shiver, as if their blood was being frozen in their veins. "I will not tolerate you dishonoring his name, even if it has already been half a century since his death. I want you out of the tenth division within an hour, do you hear me?"
"But, taichou! I was only joking…"
"Do not make me repeat myself."
"Yes, taichou…"
Hitsugaya then turned to Matsumoto. "Take over for me and explain the next mission to them. I can't stand this heat anymore."
"Yes, taichou. Go on and have a good rest."
And with that, the taichou of the tenth division had disappeared into his office.
Meanwhile, Ichigo and Renji were still watching from a safe distance.
"…."
"…."
"He is kind of scary."
"What did I tell you, Ichigo?"
"But he's not as bad as you think," Ichigo insisted. "There's something more to him than that weird and creepy coldness, I know it. I can feel it."
"You just keep telling yourself that, but I can feel that Hitsugaya-taichou is really pissed off – and it's all because of you staring at him and all those comments back there. Good job, he'll probably hate you for the rest of your life now."
"You think so?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I think you're wrong," Ichigo declared.
"Psh," Renji scoffed. "Do whatever you want, but don't come crying to me if he turns you into a strawberry popsicle. Anyways, let's get a move on, we've got eleventh-squad'ers to entertain."
"You know what, Renji? You go on ahead without me. There's something I need to do."
Author's Note: How was it, yay or nay?
