Matsumoto Rangiku went back to her own quarters the night Hitsugaya was released and lay in bed, thinking about the young graduate that was now her captain. She had actually meant to go and visit him again when he left the fourth division, but had 'forgotten' to do most of her errands after a night out drinking with Captain Kyouraku and had been in the office desperately trying to finish a little of the work piled on her desk when the captain was released. Now, the kid was likely back at his own quarters already and probably didn't want to be disturbed.
She liked him; he seemed mature and serious enough to handle the responsibility of a captain, and she was relieved that she didn't have to do so much work to lead the division now. She had kind of enjoyed the increased responsibility that came with not having a captain, but she rarely got time to relax, and she was in the spotlight way too much, being the representative of the division. She wanted to back off, to let someone else take charge, but without having to worry that whoever it was couldn't handle it.
Even though Hitsugaya was young, she had no doubt that he would be perfectly capable of taking the captain position. The one thing that worried her was that she knew the rest of the division wouldn't have the same attitude as she did. She, as well as some of the other captains, had been spreading out the news that there was a new tenth division captain, trying to show people that the new captain was certainly powerful and more than qualified to be in the position, and of course, along with it came the (true) rumor that it was a first-year Academy graduate who was young to begin with. She understood how the division felt, even if she didn't agree with it, though. They were suddenly expected to look up to someone far younger and less experienced than them, someone who hadn't even been a real shinigami before. She imagined it would be especially weird for the five new division members she had selected from this year's graduating class; two weeks ago, Hitsugaya had been their classmate, and now he was their captain.
It didn't help matters that, from what she had overheard from those new division members, Hitsugaya wasn't the most popular kid either. He didn't seem to be disliked, necessarily, but he didn't sound like the type who socialized much, and as a result, most of the others who knew him seemed to think of him as this little oddball kid who just avoided everyone. Matsumoto sighed to herself; it was going to be tough to convince the division to show the captain the respect he deserved. But it had to be done, and as soon as possible. The longer she waited, the more—and nastier—rumors would spread.
She slowly drifted off to sleep and had strange dreams, in which members of her division were surrounding a hollow wearing a captain's haori… Matsumoto tried to tell them that it wasn't a threat, but they attacked it… she tried to step in to help but she was cut down herself, and they were all laughing as they moved in for the kill…
Matsumoto woke earlier than intended the next morning, feeling groggy and disgruntled. Strange and disturbing dreams had kept her from sleeping properly. She got up, dressed, and headed to the kitchens to eat something: food usually helped wake her up, and an unrested Matsumoto Rangiku was not a pleasant one.
Because she was up early, there were only a few division members in the kitchens when she arrived there; they waved to her happily and resumed pursuing their breakfasts. There were a few division members that got up this early on a regular basis—Matsumoto had no idea how they did it, but they seemed to enjoy the early mornings. They were mostly the kind of people who were also health freaks and consequently the fruit was already picked over when Matsumoto arrived. She sighed and filled a plate with the last of the strawberries, half a grapefruit, and two small oranges. She normally didn't eat such a healthy breakfast, but this kind of food did give her more energy than cinnamon rolls and frosted pastries, and she really needed it at the moment.
After quickly downing her breakfast, she headed outside and meandered over to her captain's quarters. The sun was starting to rise and more of the division was trickling out of the barracks and toward the kitchens; the captain ought to be up by now. She headed up to the door of his quarters and knocked softly: if he was still sleeping, she didn't want to wake him. There was no response and Matsumoto quietly slid the door open, peering inside at the bed, but the captain wasn't there. The covers had been folded back neatly, and his personal things appeared to have been stored around the room, so clearly he had already been here and was up already. She frowned: she hadn't seen him on the way here from the kitchens.
She headed around back, to the small private gardens behind the captain's room, and found him sitting on the ground with his sword in his lap, seemingly deep in meditation. He was wearing just the plain shinigami robes, but his neatly folded haori was by his side.
Matsumoto smiled. From the way they worked together in that duel, she figured the kid and his zanpakutou must have a really strong connection. He hadn't had the sword with him in the fourth division; he must not have had much of a chance to communicate with it until now. She supposed he was thanking the zanpakutou for all it had done with him in that battle. She waited patiently until he seemed to finish his meditation; as he got up and turned around, she greeted him rather loudly.
"Good morning, Captain!"
He looked up at her incredulously, chuckled, and said quietly, "good morning, Matsumoto. You sure seem energetic." He bent down and picked up his haori, slipping into it and securing his zanpakutou into his back with—Matsumoto grinned—the green sash and clip she had given him as a sort of welcoming present.
"Come on! I'll show you around the division," she said as he joined her at her side and they headed around the captain's quarters and toward the rest of the division together. Matsumoto figured it would make a good impression on the rest of them to see the captain and vice-captain together and being friendly to one another, though she did note that she was significantly taller than him, and wondered briefly if it would appear obvious if she slumped over so as to make Hitsugaya's small stature less noticeable.
If the captain was nervous at all about his first real day as captain, he wasn't showing it: his expression was serious but relaxed, and he walked with a confident stride. That was good, it would make a good impression. As they passed by the front of the captain's quarters, he spoke up. "Did you just offer to show me around because you figured I wouldn't want to be alone on my first day with my new division?"
She grinned rather guiltily, like a thief caught in the act, and said, "well… yeah. I mean," she added quickly, "if you'd rather I leave you alone, I will."
Hitsugaya laughed. "No, go ahead. I just wondered. And... thanks."
She smiled gratefully as they approached the main offices. She led him inside, showing him where his work desk was as well as hers, which was unusually clean (she had hastily stowed the mounds of unfinished paperwork in the drawers of her desk the day before). They took a small tour around the division; Matsumoto pointed out the kitchens and commons areas, the gardens, the officer's barracks, the small division's library, and the indoor training areas.
As they walked, they kept passing division members, who stared shamelessly at the duo. When they passed, the shinigami whispered and pointed, despite the murderous glares Matsumoto threw in their direction. The captain showed no sign that he noticed or cared about the way the other division members were acting, but Matsumoto knew they hadn't escaped his attention. Her brain worked furiously, trying to come up with something she could do to help them accept the kid as their captain.
Finally, as they approached the main training areas and saw several shinigami sparring casually, Matsumoto had an idea. It wouldn't have the grandest effect, perhaps, but it might take the division a little closer to accepting Hitsugaya. She looked around surreptitiously and saw, to her delight, that about a quarter of the division seemed to be following them, attempting with little success to appear as though they were merely strolling. She leaned down and grabbed Hitsugaya's arm.
"Captain, spar with me."
She said it rather loudly, and smiled in a satisfied manner as some of the shinigami nearer to the two turned, looking interested. Hitsugaya looked up at her and raised his eyebrows.
"What?"
"No shikai or anything. Let's just… train a bit," she said, hoping he would catch on to what she was trying to do. "I mean, I should know your fighting style if I'm going to be working with you." She smiled broadly. "And maybe you can give me a few tips."
The captain scrutinized her, and for a moment, she dreaded he might refuse, but he merely shrugged slightly and said, "sure. I'd like to see the way you fight too."
"Great!" Matsumoto took the lead into one of the open sparring circles; the other shinigami who were training stopped to watch, and those who had been following the captain and vice-captain gathered around them, not bothering to try to hide anymore.
Matsumoto pulled her sword and her captain did the same. "All right then, just a quick spar to get used to the way we fight, then?" Hitsugaya nodded and took a battle stance. Matsumoto copied him and prepared to start the short fight. She would try to make this as good as possible.
