But today, he didn't. Instead, he flinched, trying to curl up on himself. "Hinamori…" He mumbled, and Matsumoto's heart clenched. He was delirious with fever and thought she was his long time friend and betrayer. "It hurts…" His voice was slurred, thick with unshed tears. "
She leaned down close. "What does?" She asked softly.
Hitsugaya shook his head, eyes tightly closed, still lost in his dream world. "No…I trusted you…even told you…."
She shook him a little. Had Hinamori said something to hurt her Toushiro? She'd kill the girl! "Told me what?"
He whimpered at her fierce whisper, trying to push away, but he was too weak.
"Shh. Shh. I'm sorry, Shiro-chan." She cooed, running fingers though his sweat dampened, soft, thick hair.
"Abou…about …Matsumoto…." This time, her heart really did skip a beat. What about her? She unconsciously clutched her feverish taichou tighter.
"What about Matsumoto?"
He moaned, head lolling to the other side, away from her body heat. "No, Hinamori….can't trust you…." All his words were slurred and hard to hear; she had to lean down close, ear to his soft lips to catch the sloppily formed, whispered words.
"Shiro-chan. I promise, I won't tell Matsumoto." She cooed, rubbing his back and turning his head so it was snuggled back against her breast. She HAD to know.
"…I…love her…" It came out as a barely whispered sigh, his head falling forward, face tilted down, hidden from her blue gaze. Her heart bubbled and she had to repress a squeal of joy. With one slender finger under his chin, she tilted his head up, gazing down at his child-like face that was full of pain and sadness. She silently vowed to never let him hurt again.
Her head lowered, long hair swaying in the breeze as she kissed him, warm lips pressed gently to his soft ones. He stiffened, then relaxed under the steady, gentle pressure. Once the tenseness left his thin frame, she relented and pulled back, smiling down at him. "She loves you, too, Shiro-chan."
Dark lashes fluttered, cracking apart to reveal teal slits. "Rangi…." His voice was strained, weak, but the word was well formed and clear. He was awake, at least partly. His eyes couldn't open all the way, but they were clear with recognition. His lips started to form a small smile when he suddenly collapsed against her, unable to finish even saying her name. She cuddled him to her, mindful of his wounds and beaming like the Sahara sun.
Toushiro was so cute snuggled against her. The yukata had ridden up, showing off his lower legs and slender, bare feet. His legs spilled sideways off her lap and into the sun warmed grass. Muttering something she didn't hear, he contentedly nuzzled against her breast.. "Shiro-chan."
His face scrunched up. She kissed his forehead and he relaxed. She stroked his cheeks and began to hum. If her taichou was fully awake, he'd be flipping at her for treating him like a child. But she couldn't help herself. He was adorable, damn it. And he loved her, which shot the cute scale through the roof. This was a once in a millennium chance to cuddle while she could get away with it.
Matsumoto sang softly, rocking him and enjoying the feel of his small, warm body against hers.
"You are my taichou
My chibi taichou
You make me happy
When skies are grey
You'll never know dear,
How much I love you
So please don't take my taichou
Awaaaayyyyy"
One advantage to being unconscious and suffering from delusional fevers was that Hitsugaya couldn't hear Matsumoto's horrendous singing. She was tone deaf, and the addition of alcohol only made her worse, that is, if she could get any worse. She was off key, off pitch, and her voice warbled all over the place. Her pitch rose up and down- she couldn't even keep the tune straight!
Finishing in a loud flourish that ended with a hiccup, Matsumoto squeezed Hitsugaya to her. She rubbed her nose against his, giggling when his face scrunched up adorably. Her joy fled when a shadow loomed over her. She hadn't sensed any approaching reiatsu, which meant it had to be a captain, for that person to have disguised their reiatsu so well that she couldn't detect it. She looked up with a huge, cheesy grin. "Unohana-taichou!"
"You reek of sake. As bad as Kyouraku-taichou. You're drunk, and you decided all on your own to take my patient out for some fresh air without consulting me." Her voice was level, calm as she stared down at the fukutaichou and the peacefully slumbering boy captain. That was the first time since he'd been rushed in in critical condition that she'd seen him so content. Maybe…maybe it hadn't been that bad of an idea. Maybe. Just maybe.
Matsumoto tensed, but no punishment came thundering down on her inebriated head. Peering up warily, she found the fourth division captain smiling serenely. "I guess I can let it slip. Just this once. Oh, and I found this in my search for my missing patient."
She stepped aside, revealing a seated member of tenth division. His arms were full of papers upon papers and a pen and ink pot perched precariously at the tippy top. "Matsumoto-fukutaichou! I came to bring you some papers-but you weren't in the office- and I found these in the garbage-" His rambling died at her death glare. Was she going to kill him? Or the papers?
Behind Unohana's graceful, languid smile lurked just a trace of something sinister. "Have fun, Matsumoto-san."
Matsumoto scowled as the tenth division shinigami piled the massive paperwork around her and the unconscious taichou. Crap. She REALLY could use some more sake now. Hitsugaya nuzzled against his plump, fleshy pillow. She sighed and looked down at him. "I don't suppose you're gonna wake up and do paperwork, are you?" Her answer was a knee pressing none too gently on her bladder as Hitsugaya curled up further in her lap.
&&&&&&
Time passed. Hitsugaya healed and resumed his duties while his fukutaichou resumed her spot on the couch.
The short taichou looked up from his work at his desk, scowling at his sleeping vice captain. He was amazed she hadn't bungled the paperwork, causing all sorts of calamities in her wake as she took on his duties as well as her own while he was incapacitated. He snorted- Matsumoto, do work? Yeah, and hollows didn't like to eat humans.
But she had given him the greatest shock of his short afterlife- she had done work. Matsumoto Rangiku, laziest shinigami in the entire history of Seireitei, well, except for Kyouraku-taichou- actually did paperwork. He would have expected her to merely shove them all into the garbage.
Feeling an icy gaze, Matsumoto cracked open one blue eye and smiled blearily. He glared. She winked and reached for a small bottle of sake.
"Matsumoto!"
"Yes, Toushiro-taichou?"
Teal eyes narrowed. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou! And there's NO drinking on duty!"
She smiled and took a long, long gulp. "Tell that to Kyouraku-taichou."
"MATSUMOTO!" He yelled when she rolled over on the couch, going back to sleep. Still smiling to herself, she began to hum, still managing to spectacularly butcher the song's rhythm.
Scowling darkly, the tenth division captain went back to work, absentmindedly listening to that tune, which was somehow strangely familiar. "I've heard that before…" He muttered. She grinned and kept humming horribly.
OWARI.
&&&&&&
Oh, yeah, if you can't figure it out, the little ditty Matsumoto sang is based off of "my little sunshine" but instead of sunshine, I inserted "taichou" instead, cuz in a lot of fanfics I've read, the way Matsumoto says "taichou" she makes it sound like an endearment, event though it technically isn't. It was just TOO cute to resist.
Oh, and I thoroughly blame my obsession for Hitsugaya, boredom, and a sugar high for this. So if you have any problems with it, blame it on the sugar, cuz I don't care!!! Nyaaah!
Ya know, reviews are great, even at the end of a story, cuz they help inspire more stories!
