Well this is my first one shot. Hope you guys like it ^.^. Had this idea one morning and just had to write it. What can I say I just really love Toshiro. Enjoy!
It was 12:00 am. A new day was beginning, September 29th to be exact. A certain soul reaper with silver hair snuck around the seritai at this time. He kept his spirit pressure sealed and made sure that no one would see him, which is why he wore an old cloak with an hood. The man crept around and finally stopped in front of the gates of the 10 divison. A small smile spread across his face as he leaned down and brought a small box with blue wrapping out of his sleeve. He placed the box in the grass beside the gate. He then looked back up at the building itself and whispered, "happy birthday Ran-chan." Before he stood back and headed back to hueco mundo before a certain brunette realized he was gone.
Toshiro let out a small yawn as he lifted himself out of bed. He knew it was still early but it was impossible for him to get anymore sleep. He stood fully up and stretched his limbs. He was wearing a green kimono and a pair of tabi's that he always slept in. The young captain, still feeling tired, glanced out the window to see the sun just starting to rise. He figured before he officially started his day it might be nice to watch the sun rise. He strolled down the halls and out of his divison. The gate was locked so instead of getting an guard to unlock it, he simply jumped onto the wall itself and sat down. This way he was higher up and could see the sun rise easier. The boy relaxed and brought a small smile. Seeing the sun rise brought back good memories of him with Momo sitting on their grandmothers porch watching the sun either rise or set. He just wished Momo could come out and see this with him, but thanks to that bastard Aizen she wouldn't be able to come out of the 4th divison for quite a while. It wasn't like she wanted to anyway. Her heart was still broken from the evil man's betrayal. Toshiro let out a frustrated sigh just thinking about the situation. He looked back up to see the sun fully rose. He decided it was time to head back and start another day of dreaded work. The boy turned around on the wall getting ready to jump down. He slowly lifted him self off but then something caught his eye. Something blue. The boy turned back around and jumped off the wall on the opposite side of the divison. He knelt down beside the box and picked it up. It appeared to be some sort of present. But from who. He investigated the box some more by turning around and his hands. He finally found a small white label on the box that red, "To: Rangiku Matasumoto". Although Toshiro was certainly curious, he had more respect for his lieutenant then to open the present himself. He stuffed the present into his sleeve and jumped back over the wall into his divison.
The small Taichou sat at his desk already working on his paper work. He was now fully dressed in a shinigmi kimono and had his captains cloak on. He looked across the room over at Rangiku's desk. She had yet to get up, but instead he eyed the present that he had put there for the strawberry blond woman. He couldn't help but feel curious about what was in the box. He just wished she would go ahead and get up so she would open the present and his curiosity would fade. The boy shook his head and put his intention back onto the work in front of him.
30 minutes passed and finally the busty lieutenant entered the room. Toshiro looked up from his work, "good morning Matasumoto." He said politely. "Good morning Taichou." The woman replied a bit sadly. Toshiro sightly cocked his head at her sad tone. He eyed her carefully as she turned towards her desk, paused, then picked up the present he had laid on her desk. She turned back towards the boy with a frown spread across her lips. "Where did this come from?" She asked softly. Toshiro eyed the box once more and looked back at his lieutenant. "I found it outside the gate this morning. I don't know who it came from, but it was addressed to you." Toshiro replied. Rangiku looked back down at the box in her hand and slowly walked over to the couch in the middle of the room. She sat down with the box and slowly began to unwrap it. Toshiro looked up more at the box really wanting to know what was in it. She pulled the rest of the wrapping off and opened the box. The first thing she brought out was a small bag of dried persimmons. Toshiro sightly scrunched his nose in disgust seeing his most least favorite food. Rangiku frowned more and laid the dried fruit on the coach beside her. She then reached back into the box and brought out too plush animals. Toshiro couldn't exactly tell what they were because they were facing away from him, but he could tell one was white with a bushy tail and the other was the color of Rangikus hair with a cat tail. She eyed the two plushes for a minute as her eyes began to slowly water. Toshiro frowned more. 'What is making her so upset?' He asked himself. She laid the two plushes down beside her. Toshiro could now tell the white plush appeared to be a fox while the other was a cat. He looked back at his lieutenant as she reached back into the box once more and brought out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded the paper and read what was on it. Toshiro watched as a small tear escaped from her eye. She placed the paper back into the box and covered her eyes with her hands.
"Matasmuto?" Toshiro said softly.
She replied with a simply "hm" still covering her face.
"Why don't you take the day off?" He asked.
Rangiku finally looked back up rubbing her eyes. "No Taichou, I'll be fine. I'm just a little upset is all."
"No Matasumoto I insist, take the day off."
"Are you sure Taichou?"
Toshiro nodded in response.
Rangiku sadly smiled at the silver haired boy. "Thank you Taichou." She said.
Toshiro nodded, "anytime."
Rangiku then stood back up. She took all the items that had been in the box and stuffed them back into the box. She then laid the box back on her desk and turned back around with a fake smile.
"I'm gonna head out for a little while Taichou, if you need any help then just send someone to find me."
Toshiro nodded his head, "hai, Matasumoto." The boy replied.
He watched as the busty women left the room. He didn't even need to ask, he knew where she was heading. To drown her sorrows. Toshiro thought about the last words she spoke. if you need any help then just send someone to find me. His lieutenant wasn't one to really offer work like that. In fact she was more of one to make up some stupid excuse to run off and avoid work altogether. Toshiro shook his head and looked back down at his work. He filled out a couple more spots on the paper then found himself eyeing the box once more. He thought about it for a second then finally stood up. He slowly walked over the box and eyed it some more. He hesitated to reach out to the box. 'Are you sure about this master?' The dragon spirit piped up. 'I know it isn't right to go through people's stuff but how am I supposed to help if I don't know the issue.' Toshiro replied. He finally picked the box up and walked over to the couch. He sat down and firstly pulled out the bag of dried persimmons and laid them down beside them. He then pulled out the two stuffed animals and eyed them both. He then laid the cat down and eyed the fox more. Something about the white fox reminded him of someone but he couldn't put his finger on who. He finally placed the fox gently down beside the cat and looked back into the box. The only thing left was the folded piece of paper. He hesitated again but then finally picked the paper up. He unfolded the paper and red what was on it,
Happy Birthday Ran-chan. I'm sorry I couldn't be there this
Year, But just so you know I haven't forgot.
Love, Gin
Toshiro's eyes widened. Today was the 29th, his own lieutenants birthday. And here this traitor thinks he can just make up what his done by a few gifts. Toshiro sneered. 'Bastard.' He thought. But then the boy suddenly softened. He realized he wasn't much better for forgetting. Even she had celebrated his birthday. Her, Momo, and that damn traitor, Aizen. Although Aizen only did it because Momo convinced him to and that it made him look like such a great person for doing so. Toshiro closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch. Matasmuto had always been there for him. She had even stood up from him the day they met, when no one else would. She had hunted him down told him that he needed to be a shinigami, which at first seemed ridiculous, but he soon realized it would be the only way his grandmother would survive. She took him to the academy where he soon graduated and entered her divison. And when their Taichou was announced dead, she had been there for him and helped him through his every day life. Even when he was announced to be the new captain, when he obviously wasn't ready, Matasumoto had been there and led him through each step. Now the boy couldn't even manage to say happy birthday. He was the bastard. Although this year was quite different. Usually on this day, she would take off with Ichimaru for the entire day. But now he was gone, which would explain why she was so upset. It was obvious she had feelings for the man. If only the former 3rd divison captain wasn't so selfish, then maybe he would acknowledge her feelings and instead of her crying they would be off doing whatever the two did on this day. Toshiro let out a sigh. He could still remember when he first learned about Matasumoto's birthday.
~"oi Ichimaru Taichou, what are you doing here?" The small 3rd seat asked. The silver haired man grinned at the small child in front of him. "Ah Shiro-chan dont'cha know what day it is?" Gin spoke with a mocking tone. Toshiro sneered, "don't call me that! And it's Tuesday of course." The boy replied crossing his arms.
Gin laughed and stuffed his hands into his sleeves. "Well kiddo, it's a certain someone's birthday today, can Ya guess who?"
Toshiro cocked his head. "Is it yours?"
Gin laughed again. "No mine was a couple weeks ago, guess again."
Toshiro bit his bottom lip as he thought hard. He then shot his head up and snapped his fingers. "Ah it's shiba taichous!" The boy remarked.
Gin shook his head. "Nope, I honestly don't know when his birthday is. Ready to give up?"
"No, I can get it." Toshiro replied tapping his small foot.
Gin leaned against the desk in the room. "Yer pretty stubborn Shiro-chan."
"Don't call me that! I'm not a girl!" Toshiro rebutted.
"Ah Shiro-chan, Chan is used to refer to adorable things as well."
"I'm not adorable though."
"I wouldn't say that, yer just so little." Gin joked.
Toshiro sneered, "then why do you call Matasumoto, "Ran-chan" she ain't that small."
"She's smaller then me."
"She is?"
"Yea but I guess it's sorta hard to tell from yer view."
Toshiro stuck his bottom lip out. "Uruse." He said under his breath.
Toshiro eyes finally shot back up at the man in front of him. "Is it Matasumoto's birthday?" The boy asked.
Gins smile sightly grew. "Bingo." He replied.
Toshiro sightly smiled feeling proud of himself but suddenly a new question formed in his head.
"Why do you care about Matasmuto's birthday?" Toshiro asked.
Gin let out a small laugh. "I figured Ya would ask that, let's just say I've known "Matasmuto" for quite some time."
Toshiro raised a brow. "How long?" He asked.
Gin laughed again. "Yer a very curious kid Shiro-chan, all I can say, it was far before you ever entered this world."
Toshiros eyes sightly widened. Gin chuckled at the child's expression then straightened back up. "Well kiddo, do Ya happen to know where Rangiku is?" He asked.
"I guess she's still sleeping, it is quite early." The small boy replied.
"Ah thank you shiro-chan." Gin said as he ruffled the boys hair and made his way over to the door.
Toshiro sneered sightly fixing his hair with his hands. He then looked back up at the man before he fully left. "Where are you going?" Toshiro asked. Gin stopped and sightly turned around.
"Going to go see Ran-chan, wanna come along?"
Toshiro hesitated but then nodded, following the man out of the room. They both strolled down hall, stopping in front of the strawberry blonds room. Gin brought his hand up to the door and knocked. "Oi Ran-chan Ya there?" The man called out. They both heard noise inside the room and finally she replied. "Hai, Gin give me a second!" She called back out. Gin backed up and leaned against the wall behind him. Toshiro looked at him and arched his brow. Gin sightly chuckled. "Better get comfortable Shiro-chan, Ran-chan ain't always the fastest at getting ready."
Toshiro nodded then shot his head back at the man at the realization he called him that nickname again. "Don't call me that." The boy growled. Gin chuckled again and then let out a soft sigh. Toshiro leaned against the wall as well then slowly slid down to the floor, crossing his legs and placing his chin on the palm of his hand. About 15 minutes passed and finally the strawberry blond bust out of the room. She had her hair fixed up, that pink scarf on, and everything else was her everyday, shinigami attire. Not noticing the boy, she went to Gin and gave him a huge hug. Which actually surprised the boy, he hadn't ever realized how close the two actually were. "Happy Birthday Ran-chan." Gin hummed hugging her back. Toshiro stood back up and waited patently for the two to end their hug. They finally broke the hug both smiling.
"Ahem" Toshiro coughed to get intention. Both heads turned towards the small boy.
"Toshiro what are you doing here?" Rangiku asked.
Usually Toshiro would scold her for only addressing him by his first name, but it was her birthday after all. The boy looked up at her with a small smile. "Happy Birthday Matasumoto." He said.
Rangiku smiled and slowly leaned down and wrapped the small boy into a hug.
"Matasumoto! Let go! It's emrassing! And besides I can't breath!" The boy shouted as loud as he could as he struggled against the woman's grip. Gin laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Ran-chan yer gonna kill him if Ya keep it up." He spoke.
Rangiku finally released the boy as he gasped for air. "Sorry Toshiro, didn't mean to hug you so hard." She smiled.
Toshiro stuck his bottom lip out as he still caught his breath.
"But thank you for wishing me a happy birthday." She continued.
Toshiro smiled once again. "Your welcome." He replied.
Rangiku then stood back up, standing beside the silver haired captain. "Tell Taichou I'll be back later. I'll see you later Toshiro." Rangiku waved. Toshiro nodded. "Ok Ill see you later."
"Bye Shiro-chan." Gin spoke up.
Toshiro sneered again. "I told you not to call me that." The boy then sightly shook his head, "bye ichimaru-Taichou." Toshiro said with a short bow.
"No need to be so former kiddo." Gin stated and turned around with Rangiku. Toshiro straightened back up as he watched the two walk away. They both gave him one last wave before they walked out of the building.~
Toshiro opened his eyes after recalling the memory. He looked back down at the piece of paper and placed it back into the box. He then picked up the two plushes. The boy eyed them both then finally realized what they stood for. The cat was supposed to be Rangiku and the fox Gin. Toshiro now, couldn't help but find himself sneering at the fox eventhough it was merely a toy. The boy then let out a sigh and stuffed both the plushes carefully into the box. 'Just what is that bastard up to?' Toshiro questioned as he picked up the small bag of dried persimmons and placed them also into the box. 'Maybe his just being generous.' The dragon piped up.
'Ichimaru being generous? You gotta be kidding me.' The boy replied as he closed the lid of the box.
'Well then maybe it's his own way of saying he remembers what they had, after all he did say on the note it was to show he hadn't forgotten.'
Toshiro thought about the dragons words for a second then shook them off.
'I still doubt it. His probably just doing this for his own amusement, so he can watch Matasumoto cry.'
'Master the man is all the way in hueco mundo, how do you suspect he can watch her cry?'
'Just the fact that she'll cry is probably enough to satisfy the man.'
Toshiro then stood back up, with the box in hand, and placed the box down at the exact spot he found it. 'His nothing but a cruel traitor.'
The dragon then sighed. 'I think your letting your own grudges get the best of you master.'
'What? No I'm not, this is just merely a fact.'
'You still have a lot of growing up to do my young master.' The dragon hummed.
Toshiro shook his head. 'I'm more mature then half the people I know!'
'Being mature doesn't mean your grown up master, being mature just means your more serious and cool in most situations.'
The boy now felt ignored at the his zanpukato spirit. Instead of working himself up about it, he decided it was best to ignore the dragon for now. The young captain then walked back over to his desk. He eyed the paper work on it then looked back up at Matasumoto's desk. Toshiro was never one to abandon his work but here he was considering it. He shuffled through the papers for a second to see he still had a quite lot to do, but at this time, paper work should be the last of his worries. 'Let me see, if I go now to get Matasumoto a gift, then I'm probably gonna have to spend half of my night finishing this dreaded work.' The boy thought to himself.
'Just don't overdo yourself master.' The dragon said.
'Don't worry I won't.'
He then looked back at the empty desk and gift on top of it. This was the right thing to do, he could feel it in his gut. He went over to the door and strapped on his sandals that he left there. After that the boy made his way out of the divison.
He walked down the road past various of shops, trying to decide which one would suit his lieutenant best. He glanced over at a sake place knowing that would always suit her but he couldn't go back in there, not after the last incident...
~"Matasumoto!" The boy shouted as he looked for his lieutenant. He had checked all the bars and places she liked to go but had no luck finding her. He then glanced over at a sake shop. "I bet she's in there." He said out loud. The young captain then shunpoed over to the building and walked in. Right away he covered his nose at the awful smell. He stepped in a few more steps when all of a sudden a huge man jumped out in front of him from the counter. "HEY! NO KIDS ALOWED! THIS IS A PLACE FOR GROWN UPS ONLY!" The man shouted. Toshiro still covering his nose backed up slowly. "I'm not a kid!" He shouted back. "Sure your not, now GET!" The boy jumped back as the man shouted again, accidentally knocking into a small table that had 3 large bottles of sake on it. The bottles fell and shattered all over the floor. The boys face filled with horror. He turned to apologize but the man was completely outraged. Eventhough the boy was a captain he felt a rush of fear take over him, and quickly turned and ran out of the building full speed. The man chased after him and yelled some very harsh words as Toshiro got further and further away. The boy had ran all the way back into his divison, into his office, and found himself locking the door even though it would be impossible for the man to find him now. He panted hard as he now leaned against the wall. "Taichou?"
Toshiro's eyes shot open to see his lieutenant actually at her desk doing work.
"Matasumoto! How long have you been here?!" He nearly shouted.
"Um about an hour and a half, where have you been?" She replied.
"Looking for you!"
"Oh well maybe you should've looked here first."
Toshiro scrunched his brows together and went over to the couch, and plopped down.
"Taichou are you ok?" Rangiku asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
Toshiro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Matasumoto?" He started.
"Yes Taichou?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
And before she knew it, Rangiku was paying a man for three bottles of sake that the young captain had accidentally broke.~
Toshiro sighed and continued down the path, away from the sake shop. He never quite understood why the man had scared him so bad after all he was a captain, but he could still remember how he would jump every time he heard a knock for almost a week. Matasumoto would merely laugh and reassure him that the man would not be coming after him. But he couldn't help but still jump.
The boy stuffed his arms into his sleeves still glancing at all the shops trying to find just the right one. Time passed and before he knew it, it was past lunch. The crowd which had been there, slowly began to become thinner and thinner. Which was quite pleasing to Toshiro considering he wasn't much into big crowds, but it also meant a few shops were beginning to close. And on top of that, the boy was quite hungry, but he decided to ignore his growling stomach. He had entered a few shops and left each one of them empty handed. Nothing would work. He let out a deep sigh and stopped walking. 'Maybe I should just head home...' The boy thought.
He looked up at the sky to see it was beginning to grow orange. 'Ain't nothing I can do now...'
He began to turn around, lowering his head. He took a few steps when all of a sudden something caught his eye. It was a plush, a dragon plush, it was blue, it was... Hyorinmaru. It sat on a self behind a huge glass window in a small shop. Toshiro touched the glass and finally decided to go in. He quickly jogged over to the door to see a woman, wearing a shinigmi kimono, locking the place up. The boy knocked on the glass door hoping with all his heart she would let him in. The lady looked down and widened her eyes. She quickly opened the door and the let the small boy in. "Captain Hitsugaya, what may I do for you today?" She asked. Toshiro eyed the woman. He could now recognize the woman as his 26th seat. The boy turned around and walked over to the plushie. He picked it up and turned back towards the woman. "What is this?" He asked. The lady smiled. "I would think you would know for its your own zanpakuto." The woman replied. Toshiros eyes sightly widened. "Why did you make a plushie of hyorinmaru? How did you even know what he looked like?"
The lady laughed. "Well I was hoping to sell something that would remind people of our young captain considering you are quite impressive, so I asked lieutenant Matasumoto and she said, that a blue dragon reminded her most of you because of your zanpakuto."
Toshiro blinked and looked back down at the plush. He touched the small dragons plush head as he recalled what hyorinmaru had said earlier. "Well then maybe it's his own way of saying he remembers what they had, after all he did say on the note it was to show he hadn't forgotten."
Toshiro frowned and looked away. 'Maybe this dragon could remind Matasumoto she ain't alone...' Toshiro thought to himself. The dragon spirit smiled.
'Now that's a grown up idea.' The dragon hummed.
The boy smiled and looked back up at the shop keeper. "I wanna buy this." He said holding the plush out.
"Eh, are you sure Taichou? I never knew you to be one for toys."
Toshiro puffed his cheeks out. "It isnt for me." He stated.
"Oh well in that case, would you like me to wrap it?"
"Yea if you can."
"Of course!"
She took the small plush from the boys hand and walked over to the counter. "I'll ring you up here Taichou!" The lady called out from behind the counter.
"Hai." Toshiro walked up to the counter, which was rather high. He had to stand on his toes just to look over.
"Ok Hitsugaya Taichou, that will be $10"
"Hai." Toshiro replied as he dug through his pocket and brought out ten dollars. He handed the money to the lady as she replied with a "thank you!"
She then turned and put the money in the register.
"Ok Hitsugaya Taichou, what color wrapping would you like to use?" The woman spoke up.
"What colors do you have?"
"Take a look." She pointed to her left over at a various colors of wrapping.
The boy, unable to see fully over the counter, lifted his upper body up to see the various colors. His eyes landed on a torquise color.
"That one beside the blue" he said as he dropped his body back down.
"Ok just give me one sec!" She replied.
She wrapped the small gift in under a minute. She then leaned back over the counter and handed the gift to the boy. "Thank you, please come again!" She said as the boy took the present.
"Arigato." Toshiro replied with a short bow. He then left the shop and shunpoed back to his divison before it got fully dark.
Rangiku walked back into the office of the tenth divison. She had been out drinking the entire day, she had even passed out at the bar, and now here she was, sober but with an awful headache. She closed her eyes at the sudden light, then finally blinked them open and looked up at the clock on the wall. The hand landed on the 1 meaning her dreaded birthday was officially over. She let out sigh and placed her hand on her fore head. All of sudden she saw a flash of silver. She opened her eyes fully to see her small Taichou, still at his desk, but sound asleep on a pile of paper. His breathing was steady, and for once, he looked completely peaceful. "Oh Taichou." She whispered with a small smile. "He never knows when to stop."
She leaned against the wall as she tried to decide wither she should wake him or let him rest. She then glanced over at her desk, and right beside the blue box, sat another object, wrapped in turquoise. She arched an brow and walked over to the item. She slowly pulled the wrapping off and there in her hand, was the small blue dragon plush. She ran her hand on the fabric of the dragon then saw something else on her desk. It was a folded sheet of paper. She picked the paper up and unfolded it.
Dear. Matasumoto,
I'm sorry I forgot your birthday. But I hope this makes up for it.
I hope when you look at this dragon, you'll remember that your
Not alone.
Your Taichou, Hitsugaya Toshiro
Rangiku smiled and look back over at the sleeping boy. She had never expected he would do something so generous but it honestly helped her feel a little better. She placed the dragon and the note back onto her desk and silently walked over to his desk. She looked at his face. For once he didn't keep his eyebrows scrunched together, making it easier to see the child he really was. She looked over at the couch then back at the boy. She then carefully lifted the boy off of the desk and quietly placed him on the couch. She bent down and brought out a wool blanket and a pillow that she kept under there for naps. She lifted his head and placed the pillow under it as she gently laid his head back on it. After that, she unfolded the blanket and laid it on of his lower half of his body, knowing he wouldn't want to be fully covered because it would be too warm. She then stood back up and went back over to his desk. She picked up all the rest of the paper work and headed back over to her desk. She stopped halfway standing over the couch. The boy let out a small grunt then turned over to his side as he snuggled into the pillow more. She smiled once more, "thank you Taichou." She whispered as she walked back to her desk to finish the rest of the work.