Chapter 2:

Matsumoto Rangiku, the woman who had just crashed his house yesterday night, now suddenly had the nerve to enter his homeroom classroom claiming that she was going to be the new teacher.

"Hello Students! I am your new teacher Matsumoto Rangiku! Please call me Matsumoto-sensei!" She said smiling as she walked over to her desk, resting her roll sheets on her shoulder.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit...' Toshiro repeated silently to himself as he hid behind his textbook hoping she wouldn't notice him.

"...That's not going to be good." Ichigo who sat near him said watching Rangiku without much interest.

"What?" Toshiro asked.

"Look." Ichigo pointed behind him. Toshiro followed his thumb to Mizuiro, who was staring at her dumbly, his cheeks dabbed with a light shade of pink. "I wonder if she'll be like the last one." Ichigo said more to himself as he remembered the last substitute teacher who spent the whole class hitting on Mizuiro rather than teaching anything at all.

Distracted by Ichigo, he forgot to hide and was found.

"!" Matsumoto looked over her class and some silver hair caught her attention. "Hitsugaya-kun!" She shouted and ran over to Toshiro.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck...' He repeated silently closing his eyes as Rangiku came, no skipped, over to him and hugged him.

"...What're you doing?" He asked, trying his best to keep his cool.

"Oh, you're being cold." Rangiku said letting him go. "Well, let's have some fun later!" Rangiku said and winked as she turned around and returned to her desk.

The whole class stared at Toshiro. He glared back at them.

'What? I'm the one who wants answers here.' Toshiro said to himself.

Rangiku ordered everyone to quiet down and then took roll. After a while, the class returned to its normal behavior.

"Guess not." Ichigo said to himself as he returned his gaze back to the window.

Except Momo, who continued to watch Toshiro warily. She didn't like this at all. She refused to think about why; she just knew she didn't like it. She sat quietly examining both Toshiro and Rangiku carefully looking for signs. All she could gather was that Toshiro was stressed and annoyed and Rangiku was just flirting and probably wasn't thinking much about love or anything.

'Doesn't seem like anything bad will happen...' Momo thought relieved. 'But still, what was that all about?' Momo thought staring at Toshiro, her eyes wistful.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?" The majority of the class screamed at Toshiro as soon as Rangiku had left the classroom.

"It was nothing." Toshiro answered ignoring them.

"THAT WAS NOT NOTHING!" They all said at him.

"Hey, I don't want to talk about it all right?" Toshiro tried to get through the crowd that had formed around him to leave.

"WAIT, COME BACK HERE TOSHIRO!" They shouted after him as he left.

When he left the classroom, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Momo, and Ichigo were waiting outside for him.

"Good job Buddy!" Ikkaku and Yumichika both congratulated Toshiro.

"What're you talking about?" Toshiro asked the 2, not really wanting to know.

"Oh, come on." They both said grinning.

"Shut up. Whatever you're imagining, it's false." Toshiro said brushing them off.

"Hey, Toshiro." Ichigo suddenly cut in.

"What?" He asked.

"Good luck with Matsumoto-sensei." He said.

"Geez, thanks." Toshiro said sarcastically.

"Bye." He said waving. He walked over to Rukia who was waiting with Orihime, Ishida, and Chad. Orihime waved at Toshiro as she usually did before leaving.

"Jesus." Toshiro sighed and leaned on Ikkaku.

"Why the hell are you tired? I'd be jumping up and down if I were you! Just about as bad as Yachiru does!" Ikkaku said. Yumichika nodded in agreement.

"Whatever, what're you guys doing this evening?" The last thing Toshiro needed was to see Rangiku at home again.

"Well after picking up Yachiru from kindergarten and getting a referral from the teacher for beating other kids for fun, we'll drop her off to Kenpachi and then we're free." Yumichika said. "How about we go over to your house once we're done?"

"No, that's alright." Toshiro said imagining Ikkaku and Yumichika finding out. "I'll just go home and rest." He said.

'Although there probably won't be time for rest.' He thought.

"Alright, well sorry but we got to hurry!" Ikkaku said and they both ran off.

Now Toshiro and Momo were the only ones left. They stood there for a while. Toshiro debating on what to do and Momo silenced from the tension.

"...Toshiro-kun, let's go." Momo finally said walking ahead of him.

"Yeah." He said and they walked together. Like they had done since first grade. It was the same, and at the same time it was so different.

"...So, Toshiro-kun." Momo said breaking the silence. "Do you like Matsumoto-sensei?"

"...?" Toshiro was silent. Why was she asking that kind of question?

"I-I mean not like in that way! Just I mean as a teacher you know! Do you think she'd be a good teacher!?" Words started to rush out of her mouth unstoppably.

"Honestly..." Toshiro said. "I don't think she'd be such a good teacher."

Momo was disappointed, she honestly couldn't care about whether she was a good teacher or not.

"...But, I don't hate her or anything." Toshiro added, smiling a little.

The wind blew in Momo's face; she looked down at the ground.

'No!' She told herself and shook her head. 'That's crazy!'

Momo looked up and smiled.

"I don't think I will either!" Momo said and smiled. She grabbed Toshiro's hand and ran with him all the way home.

"??" Toshiro followed her confused.

When they reached his house, Momo let go of Toshiro's hand. Her hand fell to her side and so did his. She smiled.

"I won't give up Toshiro-kun! I won't!" Momo said and ran away waving.

"What?" Toshiro watched her run off. He shrugged it off and walked upstairs and opened the door.

"Welcome Home, Honey!" Rangiku shouted her face as cheery as usual. "I didn't feel like cooking so I decided to get some take-out! I mean, cooking is so hard." She said. She had finished her meal a while ago and was drinking some beer.

Toshiro looked around.

"...You haven't done anything have you?" Toshiro asked staring at his messy small apartment.

"I'm sorry Honey but I'm just so tired." Rangiku said leaning back on the couch she was sitting on.

"Why do you keep calling me Honey?" He asked irritated.

"Oh, because Darling and Sweetie are..." Rangiku drifted off.

'Names I called him.' She thought to herself.

"?" Toshiro stared at Rangiku who know looked kind of sad. But he decided not to say anything.

'She might be drunk.' He told himself as he got himself some of the take-out. He ate while watching Rangiku who was barely awake. Her orange hair was draped all over her body; her eyes were only half-open. Toshiro admitted that she was pretty, but he didn't like her like that. He didn't like anyone like that.

When he finished he put his dishes away and walked over to the sleeping Rangiku.

"Hey, you shouldn't sleep there, you'll catch a cold." Toshiro tugged Rangiku's sleeve but she didn't stir. "Matsumoto-san?" He repeated and tugged a little harder. She stirred a little.

"...Sorry...can't do it...run...run." Rangiku mumbled in her sleep.

Toshiro silently listened to the words, but couldn't make sense out of them. They were like 3 or 4 pieces of a 1,000 piece puzzle that completed Rangiku's life. Toshiro gave up and pulled a blanket out of some pile and laid it over her.

He went to his small desk to do his homework while Rangiku was asleep and the house was quiet. He finished quickly and was just sitting at his desk when he remembered something.

'I have to go see Ukitake for an explanation.' Toshiro thought. 'I wonder if he's free today...' Toshiro looked at his door. He could try. It wouldn't hurt to leave Rangiku alone in the house for a while. As long as the door was locked it should be fine. He got up, checked Rangiku one last time to make sure she was asleep before he opened the door to see Ukitake.

He opened the door and stepped out. He went down and knocked on Ukitake's door. There was no answer. He knocked again.

"Coming!" Ukitake's muffled voice came through the door. Toshiro waited and when the door finally opened, Rukia was at the door.

"Rukia?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes, I was visiting. You too?" She asked. Toshiro nodded. "Ukitake-san? Toshiro-kun" Rukia called into the house.

"Come in!" Ukitake shouted. When Toshiro walked in, he found Ukitake in the back writing some cards to some more relatives. "Toshiro-kun! What brings you here?" He asked smiling the same cheery smile like Rangiku had on a while ago.

"I think you know why I'm here." Toshiro said, crossing his arms and glowering at Ukitake.

"Okay, okay. It's about Rangiku-chan right?" Ukitake asked. Toshiro nodded. "Well, like I said, I need someone to take care of Rangiku while my family is nearby because, as you probably can guess, unless she and I have a relationship they wouldn't like that."

"So you just throw her on me?"

"Toshiro-kun, I didn't want to. But you're a strong boy; I know I can trust you with her. You're the only guy in this area that I know won't mess with her."

"Does she have to stay here?"

"Yes. She'll stay here for 3 years actually. And right now I can't keep her. Retsu wouldn't be happy if I did anyway. Please Toshiro-kun!" Ukitake begged.

"Why? Why does she need to stay?"

"For reasons that I can not say. It's not in my place to say those things, which happened." Ukitake looked a little sad. "If she's ready, she'll tell you herself. Well if she gets to know you good enough."

"Whatever." Toshiro said crossing his arms.

"So she'll stay with you for as long as I need?" Ukitake asked.

"Fine." Toshiro agreed. "Under one condition." Toshiro paused. Ukitake stared at him, bemused. "Lower my rent, please. I'm going to have to pay some of her things don't I?"

"Oh, yes! I will." Ukitake said agreeing. Toshiro turned to leave. "Tell Rangiku I said hello!" He called to him before he left.

The moon was shining on to Rangiku's sleeping face when Toshiro entered his house again. He didn't bother to turn on the lights; he just went straight to bed.

Then, in the puzzle of Rangiku's life, a piece with a part of Toshiro fitted in.

How was it? Not as good as the first, I think but I hope it'll get better. I apologize for the Hitsuhina, but I have to develop their relationship too if this is going to work out.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. It makes me feel really good.

I sure hope I can add some other characters into this story. (I have the ending figured out; I just need to figure out what to put in the middle.)

Toshiro: Why does God hate me so much?

Natume: Pfft, he hates me way more than you.

Toshiro: Why would you say that?

Natume: Because really cute guys have never crashed my house before.

Toshiro: The funny thing is that I really regret that happening.

Natume: You just don't appreciate all the blessings you have.

Toshiro: Whatever.

Natume: Anyway, review for me please! This may not be good but please put up with it!

Rangiku: Yes review! Right Honey?

Toshiro: ...