Red and White
~Wired Nerves~
The young taicho's throat felt dry as he tried not to think about the many things going on. He still needed to plan for the event, and he found himself cracking his knuckles as he looked at the day calendar he kept important dates on. Few dates were ever entered into the calendar. His fingers twisted his writing utensil around in his finger. "Surely writing down the important dates should be easier in this case then writing the letter inviting her."
His dragon hummed in the background obviously amused by the current situation. "You're worried if you put the wrong note into the calendar Rangiku will know your plans and she'll tease you. You're also worried about what you need to do in regards to planning any kind of event which involved socialization with others."
A sigh of frustration escaped the boy's lips as he rubbed the back of his neck. His skin felt sticky as his nervousness was causing him to sweat which meant taking a shower would in fact be needed more then usual. He also heard a clicking sound as he tried thinking about the situation and almost slapped a hand over his mouth at the tick he'd picked up from Rangiku. "Sheesh."
His teal eyes darted up to where Rangiku worked at doing her own paperwork, and he swallowed as he tried to piece together why the woman would suddenly act in a manner she usually didn't act. He couldn't place a finger on why she was acting the way she was and it bothered him, and even made him more leery of letting something slip about his play date with Karin.
Looking down at his calendar he carefully wrote down notes of when he would go to purchase the reciprocation gifts for Yachiru, Rangiku and Momo. His lips pushed together when he thought of Momo and he felt he placed his hands onto the table. "She's another person I don't want to know about this. She... she really... I don't even want to think of what she'll do. She..."
An involuntary shudder came over him. Rangiku's voice came from the desk. "Are you all right taicho?"
"You're talking to me again Matsumoto?" A silence came over the room as the boy jerked his head up. "What?" He looked at the woman as she stared at him, and he remembered how the conversation which caused Matsumoto to give him the silent treatment. Toshiro felt his shoulders relax, and he leaned back in his chair. "I'm not going to apologize to you as I really don't have anything to apologize for."
The woman quickly looked away. "I guess I've got to get used to the idea you're growing up."
Toshiro stared for a few seconds as his head titled slightly to the side. "What exactly does that mean?"
"All little boys go through a pervert stage."
Two teal eyes blinked before widening, and then Toshiro's voice cracked. "Did you... did you just call me a little kid and a pervert at the same time." Something made him want to storm off, or yell at her, but something else caused him to freeze up – something he couldn't quite place. He glanced away and finally stood up in a clam manner without writing down any notes into his calendar.
The young taicho folded his arms across his chest and tucked his thin hands into his sleeves. "Exactly what do I need to do in order to plan for a play date. Why am I as nervous as I am?"
The boy kept walking until he found himself in front of the eighth division. His teal eyes blinked a couple of times before heading inside. The fukutaicho of the eighth division was working on her paperwork when she looked up at the boy. "Hitsugaya Taicho."
"When you and Matsumoto go out on one of those... I think you call them woman's night out. What kind of planning do you do?"
"We pretty much plan where we're going to go." Nanao leaned back in her chair and set down her writing instrument. "Are you all right Hitsugaya Taicho?"
"I just... to be honest I've never done something like this before. I've said that already haven't I?"
"I think so." Nanao remained silent for a few minutes. "I don't know what I can tell you other then there is no need to plan for this."
"Yes. But what does one do at an amusement part?" The boy watched as Nanao's mouth opened and then closed. "What?"
"Well..." The woman glanced away. "You're honestly one of the last people I'd expect to go to an amusement park."
Toshiro felt himself tense up, and he felt his voice crack again. "The last person..." For some reason he glanced at the ground. "I get the fact there are rides and other... well, childish things. But..."
The woman sighed as if she were avoiding something. "This really is stepping out of your comfort zone. I'd give you the advice to simply let lose, but I also understand from personal experience that you don't like the idea of letting lose in a manner that will make you look... well... possibly make you look bad."
"It's not as if I can back out of this unless she turns down the invitation. Then there is the fact Yamamotto thinks this is a good idea."
"It is nice that you're spending more time with people your own age. This means though you're going to have to do things those your own age enjoy."
"I guess I'm not going to get an answer then until I go to the amusement park with Karin."
The young taicho turned to leave, but stopped when Nanao spoke to him. "Also try to straighten out things with Rangiku."
Toshiro looked at the ground as he headed back to the tenth division. "How can I straighten things out with Rangiku when she doesn't understand?"
"You could tell her the truth."
"No. Telling her the truth will only cause more problems." The young taicho headed back to his quarters only to see the teddy bear sitting outside of his room staring at him. The child taicho wasn't sure what to think of the situation. He picked up the toy and tossed it into Rangiku's room before going to his quarters and closing the door. He found himself leaning up against the door and closed his eyes. "Just take things one step at a time."
M
Toshiro couldn't deny the fact he became more jumpy as the day became closer. He did however find himself able to do many of the tasks he set out to do. He found a rather big box of crayons for Yachiru and hoped she wouldn't decide to eat them, or worse yet force Ikkaku to eat them again. For Momo he picked candy one would give a family member, and also picked a similar one out for granny. For Rangiku he of course got the usual flower arrangement consisting of flowers from their division.
On the thirteenth he headed over to the fifth division to speak with Hinamori Momo as he needed to speak to her about something important. The girl of course seemed oblivious to what he was doing until he cleared his throat. "Oh. Shiro-chan? Are you ready to go and visit granny tomorrow?"
"About that..." Toshiro took a deep breath. "I can't go."
"What do you mean you can't go?"
The young taicho dropped her gift onto the desk. "Here is your White Day gift early."
"Shiro-chan!"
"Would you not call me that?"
"Would you please tell me what you mean by you can't go?"
"I've other obligations to attend to." Toshiro didn't look her in the eye. "I can't tell her the real reason. She'll... make fun of me. And chances are it will be worse then anything Rangiku could do."
"Like what?" Momo's cheeks suddenly puffed out. "This is your White Day gift to granny every year."
"Yes. I plan on visiting her on the fifteenth instead."
"No. You have to visit on the fourteenth."
"It's not as if she even knows what White Day is!"
"You're going and that's final."
Toshiro felt one of his eyes twitch. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"I know I heard you. I'd like an explanation as to why you feel it is all right to order a taicho around."
"I think you know why."
Toshiro's bright teal eyes narrowed as he continued to frown. "Say what?"
"You know. I'm right about this."
"I think you're trying to say that you're older and wiser then me, not to mention other things which are best left unsaid. I'm not a little kid anymore Hinamori."
"Is that why you're bagging out."
"I'm not bagging out. I'm just delaying it until another day."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am."
"I'll tell granny on you."
Toshiro stared at her for a few minutes. "Seriously? That's just plain childish of you Hinamori."
"Childish? You're the one making plans for tomorrow when I never had."
"The only reason you've never made plans on White Day is because none of the guys you gave honmei to reciprocated and asked you on a date like you wanted." The young taicho could see Momo's eyes widen.
"I don't think you should have said that." The dragon then posed a question. "Do you even understand the conclusion you just came to?"
Toshiro tried wrapping his mind around what particular idea he came to when Momo stood up from her desk and slapped him across the face. He blinked a couple of times before slowly moving a hand to touch his cheek. "What exactly was that for?"
"What you said was really uncalled for Shiro-chan."
"Don't..."
"Leave. If you don't care about granny then just leave."
"What does..." The boy watched as Momo reached up and covered her ears. "That's childish Hinamori."
"You shouldn't have said what you did to her?"
"Was what I said childish then? If so I'll apologize."
"I wouldn't call what you said childish so much as being overly blunt about what you were thinking."
"Should I apologize for being bluntly truthful, or should I simply learn to hold my tongue."
Momo's voice strained. "Shiro-chan..."
"Fine. I'll leave. I'm not sure if I said something wrong, but if I did I apologize, but not if I didn't do anything wrong."
The girl's eyes widened before she shook her head. "Shiro-chan... you shouldn't apologize for something you've done wrong unless you know you've done something wrong."
"Says the person who struggles with apologizing even when she knows she's done something wrong."
"Shiro-chan!"
"Fine... I'll leave." The young taicho walked out of the room only to flinch as something from Momo's desk flew at him causing his eyes to widen. He turned to look at her. "All right. I'll hurry in leaving."
Toshiro shunpooed out of the room and headed to the top of the tenth division roof to sulk. "Hyorinmaru... what did I do wrong?"
"I'm not sure how to explain this one to you."
A scuffling sound was heard and out of the corner of his eye he saw Rangiku coming to sit down beside him. "You all right?"
"Not as if you'd care."
"Excuse me?"
"You've rather been ignoring me."
"That doesn't mean I don't care. I'm just... still mad at you."
"I didn't do anything wrong then?"
"Then? What did you do wrong then that has you up on the roof?"
"I'm nor sure if I did anything wrong. I kind of told Hinamori the only reason she goes with my to granny's is because she doesn't have a date for White Day. I got slapped for my comment."
"Taicho..." Rangiku let out a groan. "Never, ever tell a girl they are unable to get a date period. It's a major blow to their ego."
"I simply said the guys she's tried getting to reciprocate her feelings haven't."
"Oh taicho..." The woman shook her head before leaning her chin to rest on her crossed arms. "I'm a little worried about you."
"What ever for?"
"You don't..." Rangiku paused before snapping her eyes shut. "Look, you don't exactly understand social norms like other people do. Despite this you're wanting to, well... make social contacts with other people. I worry a bit about you saying or even doing the wrong thing as you are honestly prone to do so."
"Perhaps you should tell her you're meeting Karin tomorrow."
"And get her teasing me?"
"I'm thinking you should ask her on some advice on what to say or do."
Toshiro swallowed. "Are you talking like when you misunderstood me on Valentine's Day Matsumoto, or is this actually an honest concern."
"Don't brush..." Rangiku stopped speaking. "Wait. You said misunderstanding? What did I misunderstand?"
"It's not something I feel comfortable explaining to you of all people. I think the only time I've ever thought a perverted thought was when people bring up the subject and I try to think what a perverted thought is, but to be honest... I haven't the faintest idea what counts."
"Taicho..."
"I'll be sure to apologize to Momo in a couple of days."
"A couple of days? Don't tell me she decided to not go with you because of what you said. I can go talk..."
"Don't!" Toshiro stood up quickly. "I'm going to bed.
"Taicho!"
"Stop prying into things which are honestly none of your concern!"
