This is to those lovely people who still have the heart to tolerate my whimsical romances...and those who care enough to leave kind words for me ........ Thanks Rachel for pointing out the mistakes, must have been sleeping through and I am too lazy to revise my work..


But my story is different


Same day, 11 pm.

Hitsugaya rotated the ring on his finger with his thumb as he dialled Urahara's number. He hated rings because of this habit, it was a habit which annoyed Hinamori too. That was before she left.

" What may I do for the Ice Prince tonite?"

" Need some background information."

" ..the file is on its way to your mailbox."

Hitsugaya quirked an eye-brow. Then after remembering something said, " Your woman's name is Shiho, right?"

"Ai-ya, Hitsugaya-kun is as sharp as ever" Kisuke grinned with mirth.

" In future, do not decide things on your own, Urahara.", Hitsugaya warned in a cold voice. (click!)

Tcheh! Old fox!

He looked forward at the shimmering water body under the full moon as he stood on the balcony. He was glad that he had bought the apartment on the top floor of a 12 storey building that overlooked Tokyo Bay. It was the place he was supposed to stay once he got cut off from SBG. ….. Though that didn't materialize after all…. The street below with cars running at full speed and the city of lights made the bay look even darker than it would normally would. He took out a cigarette and lit it.

He went over the files in his mailbox in his i-phone and checked the attachment. It seems the sly fox did his job thoroughly, not only did he find out every detail on Matsumoto, he also did a run down on the brother. He recognized the face which appeared in billboards nowadays. The resemblance was very vague; he wondered whether they were real siblings.

Then he started reading the final part. Which understandably incensed him.

Because it begun with :-

Rumours about Ran Matsumoto

Even though a pretty straight forward, gorgeous woman with an open personality, however, it is speculated by anonymous well wisher A, " She's a secret assassin. I have seen her brief case of more than 3 guns in detached parts- extended barrel, back-stop and scope. "

Hitsugaya looked at it with droopy eyes.

Well wisher B says, " She used to be the body guard for an underworld gang back in HK? (Was she ever there?) but then she had a change of heart and decided to become a normal citizen. She has a Chinese dragon tattoo in a private place."

A grimace was already beginning to form on his face.

Yet another said, " She actually used to be an escort in 'Sweet Lucy' and a Yakuza fell in love with her, pursued her until she said 'yes'. Then she finally got sick of him and is now in hiding"

Hitsugaya shook his head in resignation and trashed the file.

"Note to self, kill Urahara next time we meet."

oOo

He eyed the rolling numbers at the bottom of the screen of his phone and noted the closing down prices. TSE was performing like he had anticipated. He felt a bit guilty of using his engagement as a leverage to win a few more million yen.

Engagement and then marriage sometimes resulted in a merger in the corporate world and he knew his grandfather was planning on buying out Kawasaki motors since automobiles was one the few industries SBG hadn't entered as yet. And even though the owner of the company refused to sell it out, he eventually agreed to it if there were a marriage settlement. The unexpected thing was his grandfather also agreed which was a huge surprise, since even though Kawasaki was one of the oldest and the more famous established industries and its gross earnings brought it to the top 30 of Tokyo, they weren't comparable to SBG's smallest ventures which ranked among the top 10. There was a catch, but Hitsugaya couldn't gauge it from the company profile, credit report or internal information that Urahara had got him.

Hitsugaya knew from an early age that his free will would be revoked in significant decisions, like marriage and career path and had longed for freedom. But the thing was, he was very ambitious too and since Hinamori had disappeared, he had ceased to care about his romantic side of life. Yes, there were women but they pursued, he relented, and after getting what they wanted, they left. Some were clingy but Hitsugaya's cold manner sparked fear.

The reason he didn't care where Hinamori was, was because he had an idea where she was, and proof too. It didn't take him long to realize that those numerous visits to his house wasn't mostly because of him. It took him some years after his vow to earn freedom to find where she was, thanks to Urahara. And then he decided he could care less about a girl willingly devote herself to a man who had innumerable women. Hitsugaya, however, knew Yamamoto had something to do with that too. But he was a bit puzzled why would Yamamoto prefer Kawasaki Motors over Hina Enterprises, a Nikkei225 fixture and forerunner. Even though he knew, that Hina Ent.'s CEO wouldn't go for a merger, a connubial relation was favourable for joint ventures and further expansion.

Hitsugaya woke up from his reverie by a phone call from Yachiru.

"Up late again, your freezing highness?"

"Little girl, its past your bedtime."

"Little girl wants to hear a story."

Hitsugaya sighed, " It was okay, till the 'happily ever after'."

"Did the prince kiss the princess?"

"No, but the princess did get a diamond ring."

"Hmmm….cold stone or a warm kiss, which feels better?" He could hear her weighing each option.

"… whichever stays longer…"

"Hmph! You cynic! Whatever happened to romance?"

"It never left the books. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Don't you have work tomorrow?"

" I wake up punctually and you are always late. Go to bed, pinky."

" After you, snow."

"I AM in bed."

"..is it on the beach? I can hear the wind, you know.."

"Smart ass, I refuse to help you with your next homework then…"

Yachiru in genuine consternation, " No, no, snow. OK, I will sleep then..but please do get some sleep tonight. "

Hitsugaya paused at her concern. His insomnia was a frequent habit that he came to accept as a part of his life. He had now stopped fighting it.

He looked at the Tokyo bay from far and the shadow of a lone pedestrian staring at it,and said, " OK, pink. I will, now you-", he suddenly hitched his breath.

"….Snow…………… Snow?---- Shirou?"

Hitsugaya's attention returned after a few seconds, "..Eh?..Oh, sorry Kus. Don't worry, pet. I will turn in now so give the bogeyman my regards."

Yachiru was cut off mid sentence. She looked at the pale pink fone in wonder.

" what's the sudden hurry….?? and 'pet'? "

Hitsugaya rarely called her 'pet'. And when he did, she knew he was either vainly trying to gloss over or was trying to piss her off.

In this case, she knew it was the latter. She hoped there were a romantic reason for it.

Yachiru was the kouhai of Hinamori and met Hitsugaya through her. She was genuinely happy to meet the younger fiancé of her sweet sempai and sometimes, was a go-between the two childhood friends. She sometimes had felt that Hinamori had the tendency to treat Hitsugaya like a child and she being the same age as him, had sympathized with the younger male. Their friendship grew after Hinamori left and Hitsugaya started getting restless and insomniac. She liked to believe that she provided some solace to the young prodigy. She had no idea what kind of pressures he dealt with especially after the emotional letdown but she knew there was much more affection between her and her adoptive father, Kenpachi Zaraki than him and his blood relations.

"Still up, Chiru?"

Yachiru jumped.

"Oh! Dad! Why are you peeping in through the door?"

"..yaw don' talkin' to yer boy fren?"

"…No need to get jealous, my 'boy fren's' got engaged this evening…"

Zaraki rushed in trepidation and pointed a finger at her, " Yaw-yaw didn'! didja?"

Yachiru smiled, "..Dad, if I were engaged, I would tell you so after my marriage and first kid. "

oOo

Kisuke cackled at himself as he heard the dial tone (back track to Hitsugaya's call). The Urahara Shoten detective agency was still open at midnite ready for any client who wanted to preserve their anonymity and had unusual requests as long as it wasn't murder.

Urahara relaxed on his chair still smiling under his hat with his legs on the table, the mild light gleaming over him and on the seedy looking office in the fifth floor of a rundown building in Roppongi. An unconventional place for their only office but then again, it eased and drew many clients because of that.

" Someday, your impudent humour is going to kill you", said a dark skinned woman who stood by the window watching a very different Tokyo than Hitsugaya.

Urahara merely grinned not moving an inch from his position, " I am a very careful man, Yoruichi-san. And a very useful one too. I display each of these qualities one at a time."

"Hmph!", Yoruichi levelly smirked, " And still you play him."

" It becomes more interesting this way."

" …even if this puts his life in danger..?", Yoruichi turned around and eyed his hat, pointedly.

" Trust me, I am a good judge of character.."

Yoruichi turned back to the window and watched an unconscious drunkard by a dumpster being robbed by a heavily made up woman with cheap flashy clothes, she said with a sigh, " Unfortunately, this time, I can't disagree with you."

oOo

" Thank you, Onee-san but where did you-"

Matsumoto cut the line on her cell and looked at the Tokyo Bay wistfully. These were the nights when she wished she hadn't given up on sake. She missed her drinking buddy but she didn't want to get his wife mad. Her best friend couple. – Kyouraku Shunsui and Nanao.

She smiled as she watched the reflection of the moon on the water and reminisced how she had introduced her then boss and her best friend and never in her dreams, thought they would hook up. Now, they have been married for 3 years and are even expecting a child.

Speaking of which, even she was engaged.

"But my story is different.", she thought.

She stared at the huge stone on her finger, glinting of a thousand colours and guessed Hitsugaya must not even have known about the ring.

She really wished that Hitsugaya had rejected the proposal from his end. She supposed that she really didn't get time to get that boy to hate her. She had so many things on the list. It escaped her mind that she had wished otherwise at the precise moment of decision and that she was now going against her own personal choice.

"I should have talked to him properly.", she said aloud pouting her lips at no one in particular.

"About what?"

Matsumoto reeled around and almost stumbled in surprise, " You!? Toushi-no-Hitsugaya-kun?"

Hitsugaya almost caught her but then stopped as she recovered by herself. He never felt so hesitant to touch a woman before, he wondered why now.

Then dismissed these thoughts away quickly.

" What are you doing here?"

Ah-ah…there I go again, such lame choice of words. Of course, she can be here. She's an adult and it's a public area.

Matsumoto cocked her head to the side and then straight back up, " To catch some fresh air and watch the beautiful scenery. And you?"

Hitsugaya showed a little surprise and then replied in an apologetic tone, " Midnight stroll, I live closeby."

"Oh! That's a surprise, how come you don't live in one of the Yamamoto mansions?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, "You are right, there aren't any family residences here. You seem to know us well." That was an overstatement but he wanted to make his point.

Matsumoto blinked, " We-ll, all your residences are famous. I've seen pics in the newspaper." Which wasn't true and Hitsugaya noticed it. But he didn't push the issue any further. He wanted her to relax.

He managed the faintest smile he could, " What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Matsumoto was amused. She thought that Hitsugaya might just be a tad egoist. He automatically had assumed though it was him that she was talking about.

" Well, not exactly you but you will do.", Matsumoto turned her head to watch the bay once again.

Two lone strangers talking by the moonlit bay in Tokyo. Makes a good scope for a short story, huh?

Hitsugaya stood beside her leaning on the rails and watched the waters too.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Matsumoto began, " Um…How -"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou"

"Eh?"

Hitsugaya looked steadfastly forward and said, " I never introduced myself to you though you know my name."

"We-ll, step one was over long ago", Matsumoto smiled.

" What's step two?"

Matsumoto turned to look at him with an almost teasing smile touching her pale pink lips, "Do you drink?"

oOo