A/N: I don't own Bleach.
"RUKIA!"
That booming voice belonged to none other than newly installed Captain Abarai, Renji. He came tearing through the office, plopping down on the sofa before either ice wielder could blink. "Can't you see that I'm working, Renji?" Kuchiki groused as she picked up the sheets of paper knocked over by Abarai's entrance. Toshiro frowned at the interruption and only hoped that his new second seat wouldn't try to skive off work now that her friend was here.
"I know, but I wanted to tell you all about my first month as captain," the redhead announced.
"As riveting as that promises to be, I'm going to have to pass. I'm very busy at the moment," she replied.
"You sound like Byakuya-taicho."
"Good."
Abarai pouted. "Fine. But you better be available this weekend. Oh, Toshiro-"
"It's still Hitsugaya-taicho to you," The 10th Captain snapped.
Renji waved him off, "There's a meeting today, in about ten minutes."
Hitsugaya's frown deepened. "Then what are you still sitting on the couch for? Let's go Abarai!" He yanked the 5th's Captain up by his collar, prepared to drag him to the meeting.
"Wait Hitsugaya-taicho!" the petite shinigami called, halting him in his tracks, "Would you like for me to get us lunch while you're out?"
What a considerate offer. "Yes. That would be acceptable Kuchiki-fukutaicho." And then he and Abarai left.
"A banquet?" Soifon's incredulous voice echoed the feelings of many of Captains gathered that afternoon, including Hitsugaya.
Genryusai Yamamoto nodded his wrinkled head. "It's to honor those outside of the Soul Society that helped defeat Aizen." There were some murmurs as each captain commented on this new piece of information. Yamamoto cleared his throat, "This is not up for discussion. Now, each squad will responsible for some aspect of the banquet. Now given that there isn't much to do, squads may team up if they choose. The list of task can be found on the bulletin board which updates automatically. You are dismissed."
"So we're in charge of decorations?" His lieutenant asked as they ate their late lunch. The smoked salmon and green beans were quite tasty, if slightly overcooked.
"Only part of it. Kuchiki-taicho decided to team up with me," Toshiro answered taking another bite. He noticed her body tense when he mentioned her brother's name, but he decided not to mention it."Did you make this yourself?"
Rukia blushed, "Um, yes. Is it bad?"
He shook his head. "Not at all. It's pretty good actually." He dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. "Thanks, although you didn't have to go through the trouble of cooking for me."
"It's no trouble, I asked the maids at the mansion to teach me how to cook," she replied. "You're the first person to eat my cooking besides me."
The comment made Hitsugaya feel special although he had no idea why. "Anyway," he said trying to change the subject, albeit rather inelegantly, "What have you been doing while I'm gone?"
She hopped up from her chair and skipped over to the cabinets, "I reorganized the filing system and took inventory of all our supplies. We're out of pens by the way."
Captain Hitsugaya nodded, "I'll let you order everything. Anything else?"
"Nope."
Two days later…
"What. Are. Those?" He was referring to the cluster of bunny heads sticking up out of a mug on her desk.
The inky haired female looked up at him with innocent eyes, "They're Chappy pens."
Who the hell was Chappy? "Okay….but what are they doing on your desk?"
Kuchiki frowned, "You told me to order the pens. I got you regular ones, and Chappy ones for me."
"B-But they look ridiculous!" He pressed. Really? What self-respecting shinigami would use such things?
"I think they're cute."
Cute? He had half a mind to make her get rid of them, but then again why couldn't he allow her this indulgence? After all, she actually did her work unlike his sakè drinking ex-lieutenant. "Fine," he grumbled walking over to his desk. "Any ideas on how we should decorate? The banquet is next week and I have a meeting tomorrow with Kuchiki-taicho."
Rukia chewed on her pen, the action drew Toshiro's attention to her lips and he noticed that they looked….soft. "Well, I'm not sure what you'd think about it, but I was thinking of a sculpture."
"A sculpture?"
"We're both ice wielders so I think we could make it work," Kuchiki explained. She looked up at him neutrally and the expression seemed vaguely familiar. "So what do you think?"
He rubbed his chin, "An ice sculpture sounds reasonable actually. But we'll need to know what to make and how big. I'll bring it up to Kuchiki-taicho and see what he has to say."
"Is that all?"
Hitsugaya looked down at his papers, and then looked up with a smile, "It actually is. Can you believe it Kuchiki? We're done for the day!"
Rukia grinned. "Okay, so what should we do for fun?"
"Fun?"
The female soul reaper huffed, "Yes fun! Let's find something to do like: Ukitake and his darts, or Rangiku and her sakè-heck, even nii-sama does calligraphy."
Toshiro crossed his arms, "Okay, then what exactly do you suggest that we do?"
It was silly. Who ice skates in the middle of June?
Yet, that's exactly what Toshiro Hitsugaya found himself doing. And, dare he admit it-he was having fun. When Rukia first suggested it he was skeptical that it could even be accomplished. But then she was jumping and skipping with her zanpakto, Sode no shirayuki. Dancing, she called it. A floor of ice appeared under his feet and then she was in front of him. Grasping his hands and guiding him to slide across the ice.
His legs were wobbly at first, but she just smiled encouragingly the whole time, even when he said a few uncharitable words towards her. But that was almost an hour ago. Now he was spinning around with her on the ice. She was laughing-not the high tittering that girls believed to be cute, but a warm, infectious laugh that touched him.
Rukia Kuchiki was sometimes in awe of her own rash behavior. While she had been trained to be as calculating and restrained as a Kuchiki there was a small part of her that was irrational and impulsive. Something about Hitsugaya-taicho brought out that side. Was it his eyes? Pools of turquoise that hid a trace of sadness much like her own. Or could it be the kinship of him being the same element? Whatever it was, it seemed she couldn't shake it. And his hands on her hips, hugging her from behind, threatened to be her undoing.
Did he have any idea how sexy he was? With that white hair, frozen gaze and rough, commanding voice. And those hands….they seared through the fabric of her yukata. They had been twirling aimlessly on the ice, but now he had pulled her close, right up against his hard body as he stopped their movement. She covered his hands with her own, sinking back into his chest as she caught her breath. "You know, this was actually a lot of fun Kuchiki."
She tilted her head so that she could meet his gaze, "I'm glad you think so. I had a good time as well." Amazingly, his fingers threaded through her own and she felt the weight of his head on top of hers.
"Do you think we could do this again?" His tone seemed unsure, almost as if he was afraid of her response.
"Of course," she replied with a gentle squeeze. "Although with our work load I can't determine when that'll be."
He chuckled and extricated himself from their embrace. "I guess you're right about that. It's getting late," he added and indeed, the sun hung low in the sky. "See you tomorrow fukutaicho."
"Same to you, taicho," and she watched him leave.
