This one contains spoilers for the end of the Soul Society Arc, so only read it if you've read/watched past that or don't mind missing out on the surprise...like I did. It's my fault for reading articles on the subject before finishing. So...don't let me do the same thing. Unless, like I said, you don't care.
Matsumoto Rangiku wasn't very good at comforting people.
She just didn't know what to say when someone, especially someone she cared about, was hurt. She'd freeze up, and everything she wanted to say would get locked up in her throat. People had begun to think she was insensitive.
She wasn't.
It was just that, being a shinigami was a tough job, and she, being a woman in a place dominated by men (after all, of the thirteen captains of the Gotei 13, only two were women, and while nearly half the vice-captains were, it really didn't help any), had had to learn early on to hide her emotions, to remain cold and distant, so as not to appear weak. After a while, this had made it extremely difficult to show emotion even when she wanted to.
And she desperately wanted to as she saw Hitsugaya walk slowly out of the room after speaking to Hinamori Momo for the first time since Aizen Sousuke's betrayal. Matsumoto hadn't heard the entire conversation, but she'd heard quite a bit of it, and knew that her captain had to be affected.
Aizen had betrayed Soul Society, had tried (and very, very nearly succeeded) to kill both Hinamori and Hitsugaya, and still the Fifth Division vice-captain remained loyal, asking her childhood friend to "save" the man she idolized, even though there was nothing to save, placing an impossible burden on his young shoulders.
Hitsugaya had risked his life on several occasions to help Hinamori, had worried himself sick over her, had cried at her bedside when she had been unconscious, and still she had eyes for none but her beloved Aizen-taichou.
She had raised her zanpakutou against a friend, a dear friend who loved her deeply, because of that traitorous man, and Matsumoto hated her for that. She hated Hinamori Momo with a passion that surprised her, and she actually wished the Fourth Division hadn't been able to save her. It would have been better that way.
Hitsugaya would have been left with a beautiful memory, not a hopeless obligation to a madwoman.
Of course, Matsumoto didn't say anything to her captain about this, because like it or not, Hitsugaya still loved his Bed-Wetter Momo, even if she didn't care one bit about him.
"Matsumoto?"
"Huh?" Matsumoto looked down, surprised, at her captain.
"You're scowling. What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing, Taichou. Nothing."
He rolled his eyes, sighed, and continued walking.
Perhaps sometimes, Matsumoto thought, being able to hide one's emotions was a blessing.