Yuuki stared blankly at the wall in front of her bed. She hadn't seen Toushirou for days, she had avoided him completely. She knew what she had said was totally rude and wrong of her but her first instinct was to run for her life. She was scared witless of Toushirou, after all, he was a Shinigami. She'd seen Ichigo in battle, and his huge sword. Surely, if Toushirou was of captain status (though a little hard to believe, in her opinion) he was probably scarier. However, her second, more rational side told her she should apologize, that it was the right thing to do. She sighed loudly. What was she to do?
She needed a walk. Badly.
Sluggishly, she got out of bed, and made her way into the bathroom to clean up. By the silence, she figured nobody was awake yet. Not that her family was composed of early risers, anyway. After she had finished brushing her teeth, she looked up at the mirror and gave herself a smile. She fingered the heart hair clip in her hands, before she adjusted it in her hair.
Stretching a little, she made her way to the kitchen, but not without passing Ichigo's room on the way. She opened the door to see him still sleeping peacefully (or, rather resembling a passed out zombie) and gave him a sad smile. She didn't want to see her brother die, that was certain. She let out another sigh, and closed the door. Sauntering over to the kitchen, she hastily scribbled a note about how she'd be back in time to help with breakfast. The Kurosaki's (and by that she meant mainly Karin and her father) never went without breakfast, or there'd be all hell to pay.
Yuuki yawned as she shuffled into her shoes and quietly went outside. The weather was gloomy but no wind or rain at least. She decided to walk to the park. She loved when it was empty in the early morning so she could just quietly sit by herself. Yuuki closed her eyes, smiling as she breathed in the air. She cringed as she felt a strong wind. That was weird. It's not even windy today. She looked behind, confused. Deciding it was one of those random winds, Yuuki continued walking along the park.
Woosh. There it was again. What was going on? She shivered. She was no stranger to horror movies, and in scenes like this… there had to be someone following her. Yuuki could feel the hair on the back of her neck rise. She looked behind her, and quickened her pace.
Footsteps. She could hear them clearly. One after another… coming after her. She desperately Ichigo was with her. Or maybe Karin with a soccerball. Her kicks were legendary. She couldn't take it anymore. Taking a few deep breaths, she broke out into a run. That psychopath killer wasn't going to catch up to her!
She checked behind her again, relieved when she saw nobody following her. Maybe it was her imagination? Before she had even realized, she was flung backwards. She yelped as she hit the ground, hands scraping along the grainy surface. Yuuki looked up, wondering if she had somehow ran into a brick wall. She could feel herself go numb as she saw him standing in front of her. She stared for a moment, bewildered and fearful. Yuuki glanced down at her skirt that was now caked in dirt and grime. She could feel her cheeks burn.
"What the heck are you doing? You just ruined my skirt!" Yuuki demanded, as she got up, wiping at her skirt. "Are you like, stalking me or something? Like some... some... sick, perverted... freak?!"
Hitsugaya stared at Yuuki, frowning. Yuuki glanced up at him, eyes wide as she realized what she had just said. Just when she thought apologizing would be a good idea, she had just gone and made the situation way worse.
His sea green eyes glimmered.
"Oh! ... I-I'm sorry. I didn't... mean it, I swear. It just happened..." She stammered and watched as he took a step towards her. "Oh, please don't kill me.." She began backing away, raising her hands in protest. Who knew what these Shinigami captains were capable of?
Hitsugaya stepped forward and grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving. Eyes hooded, his grip tightened. He had planned his revenge for that little comment for days now.
I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Yuuki thought to herself, as she desperately tried to pry her wrist out of his iron grip. She looked around for anyone who could help her, but in the early morning, nobody was around. She stared up in horror, expecting Hitsugaya to turn into a shinigami at any moment and draw his sword.
Yuuki screwed her eyes shut. She didn't want to see herself die.
Hitsugaya watched her squirm, highly amused. Did she really think he was going to kill her? This was even better then he had planned. He took a step closer, grinning as she noticeably cringed. He took another step closer, in which she raised her other arm for some kind of pathetic defense. He could feel the laughter rising inside him. This was too good.
To an onlooker, Yuuki figured whatever Toushirou was doing might look a little inappropriate. Too bad there aren't any, otherwise someone would help me! Yuuki thought to herself. She opened an eye slowly, and quickly shut it again when she made split-second eye contact with him. She was not going to let him see the fear in her eyes! Hitsugaya couldn't hold it in anymore, a splutter of laughter escaped his lips, and he let go of her wrist.
What was that? Yuuki strained to hear. Oh God, he was laughing! Laughing like some sick, sadistic killer! She could feel his grip loosen around her wrist, and she quickly recoiled. She couldn't help but open her eyes, and when she did she saw him laughing. It wasn't that evil-killer kind of laugh, well, maybe it was, but if anything it was ridiculing. Ridiculing her. Yuuki frowned, not fully understanding.
"Did you... did you.." Hitsugaya spoke between his laughter. "See your face? You were so scared!!" He doubled over, slapping his knee in the process. He felt a little weird for laughing so hard, since he didn't really laugh much at all these days, but it was well worth it. His laughter began to subside as he noted the silence on the other end. He glanced at her. "Did you really think I was going to kill you?!" He couldn't help but laugh again.
"You... you!" Yuuki screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him. This could not be happening. How was super-serious Toushirou laughing at HER? She couldn't believe that he had planned this. Was he even capable of that? Yuuki glared as Hitsugaya made futile attempts to stop his laughter. Everytime he glanced at her, he couldn't help but break out into a grin. That's it. Yuuki thought. She looked down at the ground for a moment. "You're going to regret this."
"Why? Are you going to kill me too?" Hitsugaya taunted, laughing. He felt a little rude for laughing at her expense, but if anything, she deserved it for those nasty little comments she'd made about him.
Yuuki could feel her temple throbbing. "YES!!" She yelled, as she brought up a fist and gave him a solid punch. She smiled smugly as she felt her knuckles make contact with his chin in a smooth upper cut. Hitsugaya's eyes widened in shock as he fell to the ground, tumbling to a halt. Yuuki glanced around. She really hoped nobody had seen her do that. It was very unlady-like, in her opinion. Nonetheless, Yuuki smiled to herself. This is what you guess for messing with me! Yeah! She pumped a fist into the air enthusiastically.
There was no movement or reaction from Hitsugaya.
Yuuki cocked her head to one side, secretly wondering if she had actually killed him. Ichigo always told her even though she looked like a girl, she had the strength of a boy. Who knew? If Ichigo was capable of being a Shinigami, maybe she had superhuman strength. She inched closer towards him, nudging his backside a little with her foot.
"Hey... hey... get up..?" Yuuki chided.
No response.
Yuuki gulped as she knelt down beside him. "I'll buy you some.. ice cream if you get up now!" She said. She reached a hand out towards him to shake him.
Still no response.
"C'mon... I know a really good ice cream place… it's just down the street." Yuuki pleaded, as she walked around him. She stood in front of him and observed what he was wearing. Black shoes. Dark ripped jeans. Black shirt. Ick, he needs some fashion advice. Her eyes traveled up to his face.
His eyes were open. He was dully staring back at her.
Yuuki jumped back in shock. This was getting more like a horror movie then she realized. She nudged his shoulder daintily with a foot, hoping to get a response from him. His eyes continued to stare at her with that dull, lifeless glint. She'd seen documentaries on death… maybe he'd died with his eyes opened?
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hitsugaya yelled out, grabbing onto her ankle at the same time and pulling her down to the ground. Yuuki screamed back, visibly shocked as she could feel herself hit the ground, again. She cringed as her head hit the ground. She rolled into him, body curling up into a ball as she held her head in pain. Hitsugaya laughed again, that little improvisation was really good He sat up, glancing at her writhing in pain. He could feel the guilt coming. Gingerly, he pried her hands away from her head, to see the damage. He could see the tears that had formed in her eyes and were threatening to spill. Uh oh.
"Hey, I didn't really mean to hurt you..." He began.
Yuuki wiped at her eyes. This stupid little boy was so annoying!
"Ohh Captain Hitsugaya! I came looking for you since you were not at home! Are you with your girlfriend again?" A voice suddenly interrupted. A voice that unmistakably belonged to his vice captain. He glanced up from his sitting position at her.
Hitsugaya frowned. Huh? What was that crazy.. He stared at his hands which were on Yuuki's head. He hastily dropped his arms and backed away from her, a cool expression on his face. "Good morning."
Matsumoto smiled. "This is too cute! I wish I brought a camera with me!" She took a step closer to them, wondering why Yuuki was looking at the ground. "Yuuki, are you okay? You don't have to be embarassed, even if you're Hitsugaya's first girlfriend!" She teased.
Hitsugaya glared at Matsumoto, trying to send her a telepathic message that now was not the time. Yuuki looked up at Matsumoto, who's gaze hardened.
"What did you do to her?" Matsumoto demanded, gesturing to Yuuki's teary-eyed face. Matsumoto looked down at Yuuki. "Did he hurt you? Is that what our little Hitsugaya did?" She looked back at Hitsugaya accusingly.
"It's not like that! I mean, she started it!" Hitsugaya answered, dumbfounded and a tad angry with the 'little' comment.
Matsumoto glared at Hitsugaya. Of all the things she had taught him, she had stressed that the most important thing was making women happy! She pulled Yuuki up into a standing position, dusting off the dirt on her clothing. "Look at this! You ruined her clothes! Bring her home. Now!"
Hitsugaya got up, and shot Matsumoto a dirty look. He knew that even though he was captain, Matsumoto had this weird way of controlling him. Especially when he did things wrong. Rule #95 in the Shinigami Handbook specifically stated that a vice captain must never challenge the captain's authority, despite any age gap. He growled to himself, wondering why that rule was created if nobody (Matsumoto) wouldn't follow it. He grabbed onto Yuuki's hand and began walking. Yuuki muttered a thank you and followed reluctantly behind.
Matsumoto just grinned in approval.
A/N: Okay, longer than the last chapter as I promised. What did you guys think? I had a lot of fun writing this one! Reviews please, it's very, very appreciated! I'm thinking Arrancar to appear soon, let me know what you guys think. :)
