(A/N: Okay I tried to make this a drabble, but as it turned out this supposed short drabble actually reached out to 240 words so I guess this was not a drabble at all. Well, I wanted to to expand my drabble and reveal what Toshiro really thinks of Matsumoto as a subordinate. So there. I hope you appreciate this short fic of mine. And also I suggest you to read my drabble first which is dry ice to further get the grasp of the concept of this fic. And watch out for my pending stories, I'm going to update them soon. Enjoy!).

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.


"Matsumoto quit slacking and get back to work."

Toshiro had said this quite naturally that one might think that he had been saying this for over centuries (well, frankly yes). But out of the corner of his eyes he could still feel Matsumoto's eyes boring on him which he found slightly puzzling and disconcerting. What was she thinking again?

When he heard her cheerful compliance to him and turned back to her work, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It's a good thing that she stopped staring at him like that. He can't focus on his work and got distracted easily by her sole focused on him.

He stopped momentarily on what he was doing and shot a curious but subtle gaze at her. The sunlight reflects around her and bathing her in a warm and welcoming aura which he found….. Mesmerizing. This was the woman who had stood up for him in good times and also in bad times when almost no one else could. This was the woman who had watched his back and put all of her faith in him as a captain. And this woman… this woman had surrounded him with her ashes that protected his once fragile and melting soul of his….

He quickly resumed on doing his paperwork before she could notice that he was looking at her. Then his lips turned slightly upwards in which formed a small smile.

"Beautiful ashes indeed."

(A/N: Okay so how was it? Actually this was an allusion to Matsumoto's zanpakuto Haineko which yields the power of swirling ashes. I hope I made the correct comparison. Well, let me know what you think by leaving a review. I know you want to ;).