Is Ichigo sweet enough to melt the icy captain
Is Ichigo sweet enough to melt the icy captain? Time to find out. They are out for test drive to see what his empathy is like now that some of Shiro's reiryouku is returning.
Everyone seems to be getting excited now that Shiro is starting to realise feelings and everything… hehe, things are moving on. Drunken Hyourinmaru seem to spike some interests too, it would be rather hilarious, wouldn't it,keke. Oh and the fanart address, I don't know what happened but the address came out half-cut when I just cut and pasted. So here it is again for anyone who wants to see it: sadistic-siren. deviantart. com
And if anyone is interested in IchiHitsu in particular, hyourin.tenshi has C2 comm called White Strawberries where IchiHitsu fictions are gathered up… We really do need more, don't we… I should finish Empathy then start working on oneshots again!! Flood the Bleach corner with Ichi/Hitsu!! Haha… :)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, added the story to fav/alert list. Enjoy!
Empathy by HeukYa Ch.10
Time passed on peacefully again. Rukia and Ichigo talked on the phone after their brief meeting at New Year only to have her profusely apologising to Hitsugaya (Ichigo could only imagine how Rukia felt; she had never spoken to 'Hitsugaya taichou' before), and Ichigo's room was soon fixed. And tonight, they were about to have their first guest in more than three months. And it was dead obvious Hitsugaya was not happy with the identity of the guest.
"Oi, you could look a bit more welcome. You haven't seen anyone from Soul Society for ages and it's your own vice-captain coming."
"………I don't want to be reminded of paperwork left behind. Remember those pictures on my birthday? It would have been a lot easier if Ukitake or even Kuchiki Rukia came."
Ichigo wasn't sure if Rukia would agree to that statement.
"Hey, she obviously wants to see how you are doing. She must have been really happy to hear you are recovering."
"I just hope she's not over the moon… Even if my empathic sensitivity has gone down, which we are not even sure of yet, it would be difficult with her bouncing around."
After hearing that Hitsugaya managed to destroy half of the room with hislow level kidou ignoring the incantation, Unohana had decided Hitsugaya had recovered enough to check the relationship between his reiryouku and empathy. After all, they had been assuming empathy would disappear with his recovery with no solid proof. Matsumoto had leapt at the chance to see her captain again, not to mention the amazing shopping in the human world if she got time (and most importantly, to get away from paperwork).
Hitsugaya had been badly scowling since he heard the news. Ichigo smirked, he knew how much the little captain trusted and cared for his vice-captain despite all the snarls. He himself was actually waiting for her quite eagerly; there were things he wanted to talk to her about. He had just checked that there was still two hours till Matsumoto's arrival when suddenly the door from Soul Society opened up in the flat and a hell butterfly appeared followed by Matsumoto, as lively as ever.
"Rangiku-san! You are early."
"I couldn't wait! Taichou, I missed you!"
Hitsugaya grunted as Matsumoto hugged him, burying his head in those death mountains that people called her bust. He deftly pushed her away.
"And I didn't."
"Ah, taichou! That's cold!"
"You can go back if all you are going to do is constantly buzz my mind, Matsumoto."
Matsumoto's face suddenly grew serious as she sat down in front of her captain.
"……Is it still……"
Hitsugaya sighed. He knew he probably scared Matsumoto quite a bit with the empathic fit back in Soul Society but there was no reason for her to worry so much, especially when they knew for sure he was recovering his reiryouku.
"Obviously it has improved if I can stand having you around me for more than five minutes. I'm just used to Kurosaki who doesn't fly over the moon like someone in front of me."
Matsumoto smiled. She hadn't seen her captain since she dropped him off at Ichigo's place, and she was glad that he seemed to be doing well. His skin colour was back to normal, even his eye colours seemed to have returned albeit alittle paler than usual. Matsumoto had never thought there would be time she missed her captain yelling at her to finish off paperwork.
"Well, I'm given 24 hours then I'm returning to Soul Society… Ichigo-kun, do I get to have any welcoming party?"
"Matsumoto…"
"Ah, Ichigo-kun is underage… Shame, that means we can't have drink!"
Hitsugaya buried his face in his hand as Matsumoto pouted, looking ever so disappointed. Ichigo just laughed. He had liked the times he got to spend with Toshiro alone, but it was always good to have friendly faces around.
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"So we were out until five in the morning!! Everyone had forgotten about the fukutaichous meeting the next day so the only ones who attended were apparently Nemu-chan and Yachiru-chan!!"
It was well past midnight but Matsumoto's story seemed nowhere near the end. Ichigo was underage and Toshiro refused flat out but that didn't stop alcohol taking their place on the dinner table. Despite all the attacks and the heavy shadow casted by Aizen, it sure sounded like Matsumoto was having real fun. Ichigo laughed with Matsumto, trying to imagine the pink bubble gum and the quiet stoic vice-captain together alone.
Shame Hitsugaya didn't find it very amusing.
"Matsumoto……… You bring Hinamori out and get her drunk until five?! And what about the paperwork?!"
The glare Hitsugaya was sending was enough to make anyone cower but Matsumoto didn't quite fit into that category of 'anyone'. She did flinch though, she had practically just made a confession that she hadn't done any work.
"Hinamori-chan was fine, taichou! Everyone had good time! And you shouldn't be thinking about things like paperwork!"
"Please let me not have to worry about it…"
Hitsugaya grunted. He looked up to check the time; he was getting tired from Matsumoto's constant amusement colliding with his own irritation. It was either his empathy was not disappearing or Matsumoto was too high to notice any decrease. And it was very late, well past his usual bed time (which was quite late already). Kurosaki showed little drowsiness in his eyes although he seemed to be determined to stay up until the end.
"Taichou, why don't you have some drink? You sure you don't want any? It's your only chance to relax fully, who knows when you will be away from work like this again?"
"Matsumoto…"
"Toshiro, just have a bit to make her happy, if not, at least to stop her from harassing you."
"Ichigo, who says I'm harassing my taichou?!"
Ichigo grinned, showing the white-haired boy the beer can in his hand. He had opened it to go along with Matsumoto but he hadn't actually drunk it. Hitsugaya glared.
"That's Hitsugaya taichou to you! For God's sake, I'm going to go to sleep. It seems to be the only way to get away from this insanity."
"Ah, taichou! That's no fun!"
"You came here to check my empathy, not to have fun, Matsumoto."
"We still have tomorrow, taichou"
Hitsugaya barely stopped himself from pinching the bridge of his nose. He could feel that Matsumoto was not drunk but she was definitely far above the ground with alcohol. It was actually making him feel slightly high as well, which in turn, just irritated him even more. He decided it was about time he got out of the vicious circle, it felt like whatever improvement he had with his empathy would vanish if he stayed with the two any longer.
"I'm going to sleep. Do whatever you want, just keep the noise down."
Ichigo smiled exasperatedly. He had been getting the feeling that Hitsugaya was nearing his limit so the announcement didn't come as asurprise to him. And it would also be achance for him to talk to Matsumoto as well. He didn't make any move to stop Toshiro and surprisingly, neither did Matsumoto.
"Hai, hai. Oyasuminasai, taichou." (AN: Good night)
Hitsugaya only nodded before he disappeared behind the bedroom door. Matsumoto proceeded to finish the rest of the alcohol as Ichigo thought about how he should word what he wanted to ask. He knew how much Matsumoto cared about her captain, no matter how much she teased him and he wasn't sure how she would react. However it was Matsumoto who first broke the long silence with knowing smile.
"Ichigo, what do you want to ask?"
Ichigo wasstartled and looked at Matsumoto. There was no sign of her previous near-drunk state despite the fact that she had finished four more cans after Hitsugaya left; she was looking at him with clear eyes and a smile that told him he could say whatever it was on his mind. She was much more observant than most gave her credit for; she must have noticed something in the middle and acted to give him thechance to be alone with her. Ichigo dropped his gaze and swirled the beer can in his hand.
Matsumoto simply waited. She hadn't realised it when she arrived but as time went on, she sensed that something subtle had changed between the two of them. It was not just the fact that they had spent along time together now. Then when Ichigo and Hitsugaya started off the usual argument, she started to see just what has changed.
Even though Matsumoto had her fair share of bantering herself with the captain (obviously centred on her work), there hadn't been time the boy had lost his ground. Hitsugaya Toshiro rarely showed anything but annoyance and somewhat cold calmness; even faced with arrancars, all he would say is 'What a pain'. But when he was with Ichigo, it was quite different. Cynical jokes popped up here and there from her usually no-fun captain and Ichigo seemed to be enjoying the whole quarrel itself.
Then when she caught the sight of Ichigo suddenly going stiff at the mention of Hinamori's name and her captain taking a quick glance at Ichigo soon after that, she knew something more than she had expected happened, at least to the orange-haired boy. And in her opinion, with a brain like his along with the empathy, there was no way her captain wouldn't have noticed it, while it didn't surprise her he didn't say anything or show any signs of it.
"………Rangiku-san… Anou… Um… What kind of person is Hinamori-chan to Toshiro?"
Matsumoto looked at him, surprised. It wasn't quite what she had expected to hear as the first thing to come out of Ichigo. However Ichigo's eyes didn't have the ugly fire of jealousy. Her eyes softened. It appeared the tough substitute shinigami was still quite innocent, after all. Or maybe he was unexpected platonic type. Whatever the case was, the gentle fondness and pure care that she saw from Ichigo's eyes warmed her heart.
"Hinamori-chan is taichou's sister when he lived in Rukongai."
"Sister?"
"Yes. You know they form new families when souls arrive in Rukongai, right? With taichou, it was just Hinamori-chan and him in his family. They lived together until Hinamori-chan first left to attend the shinigami academy."
Ichigo nodded. He hadn't thought about others around Toshiro and when Toshiro got annoyed with Matsumoto for taking the fifth division vice-captain out for a late night, he had stiffened before he could stop himself. He had heard about what happened between Aizen, Ichimaru, Hinamori and Toshiro while he was fighting to rescue Rukia so he knew Toshiro thinks dearly of the now-fragile girl. He just hoped Toshiro hadn't noticed the flinch. Then Matsumoto's teasing voice came again.
"Ichigo, I'm sure you've got something VERY important to tell me"
Ichigo smiled awkwardly, now he knew what it was like when Matsumoto was onto something; for the first time, he understood why Hitsugaya complained so much about her. He thought for awhile then took a glance at the bedroom door which was now closed, hiding the small captain from the view.
"I'm sure taichou is asleep, he did look quite tired."
"I know. I…"
Matsumoto sighed in akind manner as aslight blush crept up Ichigo's face. Maybe she should help him out a bit.
"I'm surprised though, I would have bet something was going on between you and Rukia. Or Renji."
"EEEKKK?! Rukia, I can understand, but why the hell Renji?!"
"You guys get along really well, you know."
"You call that 'getting along'?? Anyway, I'm not interested in guys!"
"Our taichou is a guy, in case you haven't noticed."
"I KNOW! What I'm saying is…… Rangiku-san, I've never been interested in ANYONE, whether it's agirl or guy and I don't think I just like guys. I don't know how it happened but it's…… Well, it's just Toshiro."
Matsumoto looked at him a little surprised, he was looking rather beat. I guess it's not easy to come to terms with it even though you know the truth, she thought. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Does it matter?"
"Huh?"
"Ne, Ichigo. Taichou is really strong. Strong enough to become a captain at that age. But do you know what that means? He had never had time for anything else. Life in Rukongai is more difficult than you think, even in theareas close to Seireitei, especially when you are just two children. Then when he became a shinigami, he got promoted to captaincy in no time at all. Hinamori-chan was just about the only person he had at his personal level but now even that's threatened."
Ichigo listened silently, keeping his eyecontact with Matsumoto's, which had now grown soft and caring. It was obvious how much she was fond of her prickly captain.
"So I think whoever it is doesn't matter as long as that person can be someone taichou can trust, feel comfortable and open up."
"He does trust you, Rangiku-san. He cares about you, it's just…"
"He doesn't show. I know, but it's different, you see? The trust and care taichou and I share are as a captain and a vice-captain of a division. I will always be a vice-captain to him, nothing less, nothing more. Well, unless I get demoted or something. Anyway, there will be no love between us and it's acompletely different comfort."
"………"
"Taichou had never been in love, he hadn't even had chance to be interested in anyone. He always works hard and takes his duties so seriously that he doesn't have time for anything else. I try to get him come with me and things but you know how it always ends."
Matsumoto laughed, remembering all those times she tried to drag her captain away from the paperwork. Although some didn't end quite pretty, most of the attempts had been fun (and sadly, unsuccessful).
"You and taichou are really different but somewhat similar in unexpected places. I'm sure you thought about your feeling quite hard so I won't say anything. It's not like you can just stop liking someone because someone else tells you to. But Ichigo, it would be difficult with taichou, I don't have to explain why, do I?"
Ichigo nodded and looked down at the can in his hand which had now gone lukewarm. Their circumstances were different and Toshiro's walls built around him and strong self-control wouldn't help it either. However now that he had admitted it and Matsumoto gave her words, he felt even stronger about his feeling. His days were filled with new happiness that it was rather scary how pleasant your life could get by just one person. Matsumoto opened another new can.
"So? How did it happen?"
Ichigo stiffened a bit. He knew the questions would come and they would be unavoidable especially after Matsumoto's 'help' already but it did feel little uncomfortable to talk about something so new to him as well. Matsumoto's eyes glistening with curiosity didn't help.
"I don't know… I just remember thinking how cute he looked when he was asleep… then I started to just watch him asleep from god knows when. Then I saw this smile on him… I don't think he realised he was actually smiling. I mean, they weren't big or anything, almost always unnoticeable unless you were watching out for it… But they were absolutely priceless."
Ichigo smiled softly as he remembered those rare moments. The last one he had seen was when he gave Toshiro the omamori on New Year's night. It had such sadness and happiness together that Ichigo couldn't decide whether Toshiro liked it or not. However that nostalgic smile had been breathtaking even if it was little sad.
Matsumoto had never really seen her captain smiling unless you count those times he smirks so was surprised to hear that he had actually smiled. Perhaps this was not going to be as difficult as she thought, but she decided to keep quiet. She didn't know yet how her captain felt about the whole business. That's probably what she will have to find out next, although that would be a lot more difficult than Ichigo.
"Ichigo, are you going to say anything to taichou?"
"……I don't know. For now, I'm satisfied that I can see him sleeping at night and I just want to make him feel happy, enjoy the time here. I gave up on thinking about what would happen when he has to go back to Soul Society. I'll deal with it when the time comes."
Matsumoto laughed. That was just so expected of Ichigo that it didn't surprise her at all; don't think, just act on the present. She grabbed her beer can and held it high.
"C'mon, Ichigo. Here's toast, for strawberry's newly found love for our taichou!"
"Rangiku-san! Keep your voice down!!"
Matsumoto giggled as she downed the rest of the can. When Ichigo got up to get more beer out of thefridge, she glanced at the bedroom door. She smiled. She knew her captain had not gone to sleep.
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When he returned to the bedroom, Hitsugaya changed into his yukata, with areal intention of going to sleep when he noticed sudden tension flowing through him. Thinking Matsumoto had probably done something again, he was trying to decide whether he should go back out or not. With afrustrated sigh, he was about to open the door when he noticed things had gone very quiet.
'……Weird, drunk Matsumoto actually following my order?'
He just shrugged off his thoughts and was about to return to bed when he heard his vice-captain's voice. He never listened into other people's conversation but his intuition told him this conversation would involve him, and a lot, at that. Then he sighed as he heard Kurosaki asking about Hinamori. He had noticed the sudden tautness in Ichigo when he mentioned her outside, with ashock of realisation and for some reason, apang of guilt flowing through him. As he concentrated on what he was receiving from Ichigo, he realised that there was no jealousy from Ichigo right now and understood the meaning of it.
Kurosaki did have feelings for him but if he had someone else in his mind, he wasn't going to bear agrudge against it. He simpy wanted to know but couldn't ask Hitsugaya because he still thinks the prodigy hadn't noticed anything. What an idiot, Hitsugaya thought to himself.
When he tuned into the conversation again, it seemed to have moved onto Kurosaki. He snorted as he heard Matsumoto telling Kurosaki that he would be asleep. He knew that she KNEW he was not asleep. What a smooth-talker she is, she could weasel out of anything just by talking if she had wanted to. Hitsugaya had enough experience of that, the result being the paperwork he gets landed with.
He then almost laughed at the mention of the6th division vice-captain, deciding Matsumoto had been spending too much time with Yumichika. Last time he had seen Abarai and Kurosaki together during Baishin incident, it only confirmed his theory that two stupid guys ended in a stupid argument (not much different from stupid captaincy meetings). But the snicker soon disappeared as he heard Kurosaki talking. More specifically it was the emotion that erased the laugh.
-I don't know how it happened but it's…… Well, it's just Toshiro.-
Hitsugaya's breathing hitched but not with pain. The intense emotion from Kurosaki as he spoke was surrounding him completely. The affection enveloped his body in its pleasant warmth and he felt himself relaxing involuntarily. Trying to regain his composure and control, he leaned against the door with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
Then Matsumoto's much softer voice came again. Hitsugaya smiled as Matsumoto explained the relationship between him and her. She knew him very well and understood their relationship to its depth. Even though she always ran away from paperwork and took her chance to tease him, Hitsugaya would not have anyone else as his vice-captain other than her. When it came to pinch, he could always count on her and her loyalty.
-Taichou had never been in love, he hadn't even had chance to be interested in anyone. He always works hard and takes his duties seriously that he doesn't have time for anything else. I try to get him come with me and things but you know how it always ends.-
Hitsugaya stared at the floor as the words reached his ears. With almost immediate promotion compared to other shinigamis, his life had been overcome with work, duties, responsibilities and authority from early age. He had never complained or even thought much about it, he happened to like his work as ashinigami even if papers could sometimes be abit too much even for him. He had been quite content with his life; he was satisfied with where he stood and with those who stood by him. However since the Aizen incident and the fallout with Hinamori, things had become unstable and rocky in his life and he couldn't think of what he can do to get them back in balance.
Although, Hitsugaya thought with ascowl on his face, there was no way he would go to one of Matsumoto's 'little get-togethers' which usually involved just about all the vice-captains of Gotei 13 (not to mention others from 11th division and Kyouraku Shunsui) and copious amounts of alcohol. Seeing Kira and Hisagi in their underwear once was enough in the captain's mind.
He had missed out what Matsumoto had just said but came out of his thoughts when he felt strong love and possessiveness. Hitsugaya wrapped his arms around himself without realising it. They were so powerful yet pure and honest, engulfing him but not harming him. He knew why; those feelings were based on Kurosaki's desire to love and protect him. They may overwhelm him but could not harm him with such intention behind them. He closed his eyes; he was lost, he had never felt anything like this from anyone.
Then an interesting question picked him up again. Matsumoto had just asked how it had happened, something Toshiro wanted to know as well. He felt bit of confusion and hesitance from the orange-haired boy before Kurosaki answered the question.
-I don't know… I just remember thinking how cute he looked when he was asleep… then I had started to just watch him asleep from god knows when. Then I saw this smile on him… I don't think he realised he was actually smiling. I mean, they weren't big or anything, almost always unnoticeable unless you were watching out for it… But they were absolutely priceless.-
Hitsugaya clapped his hand over his mouth. The answer itself might not have been clear but the emotions he was receiving was enough to tell him that however it had happened, the substitute shinigami's feeling was truer than it could ever be. Hitsugaya took few deep breaths as he felt his heart thumping hard; something was breaking inside of him.
He stiffened as Matsumoto asked whether Ichigo was planning to tell him about this or not. Ichigo's answer was a little delayed and when it came, it was uncharacteristically quiet; the uncertainty Toshiro sensed explained why.
-……I don't know. For now, I'm satisfied that I can see him sleeping at night and I just want to make him feel happy, enjoy the time here. I gave up on thinking about what would happen when he has to go back to Soul Society. I'll deal with it when the time comes.-
Until Aizen's treachery, he had been quite comfortable with only having Hinamori as his close person; she was his sister and took care of him when they lived in Rukongai. They shared the hardship of life together and they shared the memories of good time before and after they became shinigamis. He just hadn't realised how much he relied on Hinamori psychologically until they passed that point of no return. Even though he was a much more powerful shinigami than his sister, it was the girl who kept him strong with her heart-warming cheerfulness.
When Hitsugaya realised things had changed forever between them, his life was suddenly shaken from the deep base. Something unfixable had been broken. He pushed the anger, the uncertainty, the loneliness, the guilt, everything to back of his mind, hiding them and getting on with his duties with straight face. However the pressure from the wrecked relationship with Hinamori was so much that sometimes he intentionally avoided her, not wanting to ruin it even more.
But right now they were telling him there was someone who now came to love him deeply, different from his sister. Kurosaki saw him as his equal and trusted him, neither needed each other's protection like Hinamori did. And the other one simply wished for his happiness and was ready to give the comfort he sought unconsciously. There was no reason behind it; it was not because he was a captain of Gotei 13 or because he was a genius that everyone prattled about. The only reason behind that simple wish was that Kurosaki Ichigo loved him.
He knew Matsumoto had same wish but this was different. It had much stronger, rawer reason behind it than Matsumoto's. The words coupled with the empathic feed could not have been any clearer.
He slid down the door and buried his face in his hands.
In thefar distance, he could hear the sound of icy wall breaking down somewhere inside him.
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Omake
Ichigo: ………Wow. Emotionally a little… intense, isn't it?
HeukYa: I'm sure you want Shiro in your arms ASAP, don't complain.
Ichiog: Not complaining, just stating.
Toshiro: So? What happens now?
HeukYa: Next? Matsumoto returns, Shiro has a lot to think of, and we will come across an ugly business.
Toshiro: What are you planning now…
HeukYa: Don't worry!! Trust me, Shiro, trust me!!
Toshiro: (watches HeukYa pitifully then just walks away)
HeukYa: Are? Shiro Shiro (in Kyouraku way) Kawai Kawai Shiro-chan
Toshiro: I'd have to thank Matsumoto for training me to tune out whenever I want.