Games
Chapter 2: Finding
"I don't have time for this," he sighed to himself in frustration. Yachiru had made off with his personalized stamp that made his paperwork much easier and quicker to handle. A decade had taught her to conceal her reiatsu, making her game much more difficult for her player.
Toushiro wondered why he continued to amuse her for the past ten or so years by chasing her down every time she took something of his. The items she took were never of necessary value, and he could easily continue his work and wait for her to come around instead. However, her childish games caused him to divert from his work and no matter how unwelcome her antics were, a break was a break. Wanting to set the example, he never took one willingly. Most people would go crazy staring at paper work all day without pause, but there was no way someone as juvenile as Yachiru was aware of something like that, he thought.
He found himself wondering to the rural outskirts of Seireitei where there were fields and lakes dominating the landscape. Down by one of the lakes, he saw a splash of bright pink that wasn't natural to the surroundings. The young captain huffed before he made his way to the girl who had stolen his stamp. She was sprinkling bread crumbs in the water and giggling as she watched the minnows fight for the food.
"Found you," he said, gaining her attention. She was beginning to look less like a child, but her cheeks were still round and rosy as ever.
"Took you long enough this time," she teased and stood up. She had gotten taller, but so had Toushiro.
"My stamp," he requested.
Yachiru's smile turned into her signature pout as she stared him directly in the eye. He anticipated for a moment that she would jump into the lake and make him swim after her. However, she sighed instead and pulled the stamp from her pocket.
"Shiro-chan, are we friends?" She asked as she handed the item to him.
Hitsugaya was dumbfounded at the question. Why was she suddenly asking such a weird thing? "D-Don't be stupid," he muttered, not really knowing what his answer meant. Yachiru grinned and laughed, making him feel slightly relieved for some reason. Remembering his work pile left on his desk, he turned around and headed back at a brisk pace.
"Can't we walk back slowly?" She whined as she caught up to him. It occurred to him that it would be disturbing for the 11th's lieutenant to do anything slowly.
"I have a lot of work to do," he answered, not giving in to her request.
He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was pouting again. "Work, work, work! That's all you ever do!" She complained, working a little harder to keep up with his longer legs.
"I stopped to find," he paused his correction for a moment, making sure he didn't say the word you, "my stamp."
"Yeah," she agreed. "Have fun with your work," she bid him and broke away from his path, probably to annoy some other unlucky captain, he thought. He couldn't help but to feel like her last comment was a bit cold. Maybe he could walk back just a little more slowly next time.
Author's Note: Yeah, it's slow. Yeah, it's still short. Stay patient my readers.
