The long awaited, long overdue continuation...

Disclaimer: KTNM

Chrysanthemums & Peaches: Chapter 10

"Journal Entry #758-23. All high outputs of reiatsu accounted for—no activity to possibly link to the appearance of former taichou Aizen, Ichimaru, or Tousen. Investigations of the alleged area have proved fruitless. Hollow situation has been taken care of by shinigami representative, Kurosaki Ichigo and dispatched backup advisor, Kuchiki Rukia of 13-bantai…"

Hitsugaya was still in awe of the tiny blinking cursor that was able to magically transform the curvy hiragana characters into the proper kanji equivalents at the touch of a button, mainly the long, thin one in the middle of the 'board of keys'. Then, just for the heck of it, he manipulated the 'rat-like device' into opening some of his 'saved' files, bringing up his previous journal entries. Smirking to himself, he pointed to the little 'X' at the top and closed each one until he was left with only the most recent entry, making a mental note to make all paperwork within his bantai paperless.

Speaking of paperwork, back in the Seireitei at the 10-bantai headquarters, at a certain taichou's desk, lay the undeniable form of a certain 'well-endowed' fukutaichou, passed out of course on the paperwork in front of her.

"Geez, there is just no end to this," Matsumoto thought miserably, opening one eye slowly before lifting her head up just enough so that she could peel off the piece of paper that was half plastered across her face. Staring at the heaps of paperwork littering the quiet office, she groaned, as she resumed sorting and routing the mountains of paperwork.

It had been about a month since the discovery of the notice that her taichou had been dispatched to the Material World. One week into the discovery, she had tried to get herself dispatched, but as this was apparently a secret mission, and that everyone within the Gotei 13 was swamped with paperwork, there was no need for her to be dispatched. Matsumoto had essentially been put in charge of the administrative paperwork until the return of her taichou. Of course had the mission just been to investigate Aizen, Matsumoto would have been more than happy to remain the queen of paperwork, but the appearance of her only childhood friend and family definitely changed things for the 10-bantai fukutaichou. She just had to somehow get herself dispatched to the Material World.

0-0-0-0-0

Hitsugaya often had hunches—hunches about people, situations, you name it. Of course he hated hunches because they were not really based on anything. They were not necessarily logical or scientific, but he could not argue with his gut intuition when it came to these things—mainly because, well, it was right most of the time. Every inch of him had been screaming warnings to his brain. But did he listen—no. He cursed his pride for interfering with his better judgment, which later resulted in what people might call fate or destiny, entities that Hitsugaya generally did not believe in but did not like to tempt either.

Something had told him to move back to Urahara's shop and resume investigations with the crafty shopowner's residence as his main base, but he rather liked this new apartment that he had just settled into. It was in a convenient location, but still maintained the quiet atmosphere that the 10-bantai taichou preferred to work in.

Not knowing when he would be allowed to return to the Seireitei, he had found himself a few part time jobs to supplement his stipend from the Soul Society. The jobs he engaged in were rather simple in nature and ranged from working at a convenience store to handing out packages of tissues or fliers to pedestrians. While he worked, the dispatched taichou was able to observe areas of town at the same time and monitor them for any suspicious activity.

One day, he had just been minding his own business typing up his latest report when suddenly he heard a crash, two thumps and a loud thud outside his balcony. Not one to underestimate the enemy, he reached back for his zanpakutou and cautiously made his way to the balcony. Then in one swift motion, he pushed the curtain back and threw open the sliding door to find….nothing. Puzzled, he stuck his head out and looked all around only to find that he was the only idiot with an open window in the middle of the day. With a furrowed brow, he stepped back into his apartment only to find himself face to face with the person he least expected to see in the Material World.

"M-M-M-Matsumoto!" he stuttered, backpedaling into the wall.

"Hello---!" she waved, greeting her surprised taichou.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he demanded. "More importantly—how did you get in here?!"

"The front door was open," she said, pointing to the front door, which she had left open upon entry.

"Never mind that," Hitsugaya said, walking over to close the door. "That still doesn't explain what you are doing here!"

"I came to see you!"

"Why?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, they finally dispatched me to the Material World because I was soooo lonely and lost without you," she said bouncing over (in more ways than one) to hug her startled taichou.

"I'm sure…" Hitsugaya said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't receive any dispatch notice—"

"Oh, they must have sent it to Urahara-san's place—" Matsumoto said cutting in quickly.

"Okay…well, then how long will you be here and why were you sent here?" Hitsugaya said walking to the tiny kitchen and opening the refrigerator to pull out a large pitcher. "Tea?"

"Oh, thank you," Matsumoto said, sitting down at the western style table set in the middle of the kitchen.

Hitsugaya took the two drying glasses that had been sitting on the rack above the sink and filled them with ice before pouring the tea into them. Setting one in front of his fukutaichou, he sat down opposite her and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, I don't know about how long, but they said to assist you with your investigation—"

"Strange, I didn't request for back up," Hitsugaya mumbled to himself as he sipped the cool liquid quietly. "And there hasn't really been much activity here…Matsumoto, isn't the Seireitei in need of more staff—"

"This place is amazing!" Matsumoto said, standing up suddenly and spinning around the room. "Taichou, you will let me stay here, right?"

Matsumoto stared at him with her pouty face and puppy eyes. Hitsugaya could feel a headache coming on. So this was what his gut had been warning him about.

"Whatever," he said standing up and putting his empty glass into the sink.

"Yippee!" she said glomping him in excitement.

"I gotta go to work," he said untangling himself from her grasp. Hitsugaya pulled open a drawer under the sink and rummaged for several moments before tossing his fukutaichou a ring with a bunch of keys on it. "The one with the red sticker on it is the spare to the apartment. The green one is for the elevator and the gold one is to get into the complex after 10. If you need money for the washing machine, there's some change in the drawer by the front door. The machines are on the first floor—ask the front desk if you can't find them. There's also some money in the drawer if you need it. I'll be going then."

Hitsugaya picked up his duffel bag near the door and his keys and exited quietly, leaving Matsumoto to herself.

"Have a good day, then," she whispered as she set down the keys and took her glass to the sink. After she washed the two glasses and set them on the rack to dry, she opened the refrigerator. "Hmm…What shall we have for dinner?"

Matsumoto scanned the refrigerator. Two pitchers of green tea, a pint of milk, a quarter of a head of cabbage, two kiwis, half a daikon (type of radish), an egg and a small cup of plain yogurt.

"Perfect," Matsumoto thought to herself. "Does he not eat anything that isn't green or white?"

Shutting the door, she looked around the kitchen surveying the counters and checking in the cupboards, she evaluated the apartment inventory to be the following. Several kilos of rice (thank god), several packages of rice noodles, a small bottle of sesame oil, a small jug of soy sauce, and a small pot of sugar.

"Fantastic. There's practically nothing to eat here!" Matsumoto sighed and closed the cupboard that contained the whole three small packages of rice noodles. "Well, I don't want to starve…And I don't have any clothes or anything, so…"

"Shopping it is!" she declared cheerfully, grabbing the keys her taichou had left her and running out the door.

0-0-0-0-0

Hitsugaya returned to the apartment around 11 that night. When he let himself in, the lights were all on, there were shopping bags littered across the floor, and there was dinner on the table.

"Excuse me, wrong apartment," he said bowing and excusing himself.

"Taichou!" called a familiar voice. "Welcome home!"

Then everything fell into place and the afternoon's events floated back into his mind. "I'm home. And you went…shopping…"

Hitsugaya took off his shoes and walked into the living/dining room, the divisions of which were rather ambiguous, as it was one of those kitchen and living combination type apartments. His kitchen was no longer the minimalist bachelor style. Matsumoto had gone to the trouble of stocking it with things from seasonings, fruits and vegetables to frivolous things like snacks, chocolate, and instant ramen.

"Taichou, you're so late!" grumbled Matsumoto, pouting cutely with her hair pulled back in the white handkerchief, as she stood there like an angry wife waving her ladle around with her apron over her Material World clothes, an extreme change from the uniform he was used to seeing her in. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come home…"

Matsumoto was gabbing away about him not having the decency to call that he was going to be this late, but he did not really care. He felt the heat rushing to his cheeks as he stared at his very attractive fukutaichou. He was sure that Matsumoto had not changed since he met her the day he became a taichou, but somehow he suddenly felt aware of her attractiveness—something he did not really notice before.

"Are you listening, taichou?" Matsumoto said, picking up one of the lacquered soup bowls and ladling the miso soup on the stove into them.

He was like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, shocked and frozen in time. Matsumoto of course was oblivious and in no time brought the bowls of soup and rice along with the main dish to the table. The tea pitcher was dripping with condensation and formed a puddle around the rectangular jug. The ice that had been in the glasses had nearly melted, leading him to believe that she thought he was planning to come home a lot earlier.

"This part-time job must be really stressful if it makes you stare out into space when you come home from it," commented Matsumoto, dumping the water in the glasses down the drain and filling them with fresh ice cubes.

Not moving, but merely shifting his focus, he stared at the very womanly body of his fukutaichou, feeling his entire face flush as he stared at the curvaceous woman in front of him, who at this time was taking off her apron and undoing the handkerchief from her hair.

Matsumoto shook her hair loose and ran her fingers through it several times, before noticing that her taichou had not said one word to her since he had returned.

"Taichou?" she said walking over to him. "Taichou are you all right? You're looking a little flushed. Are you all right? Are you catching a cold or something?"

Matsumoto had to put the back of her hand to her forehead and touch his with the other before he snapped back to reality.

"N-No, I'm fine," he said, lightly batting her hand away.

"Well, come eat then!" she urged, pulling him towards the table. "Don't worry, it's not bad, I promise!"

"Let me go wash up," he said quickly.

"All right, hurry up. I'm hungry."

Hitsugaya nodded and walked to the sink outside the bathroom. Splashing water on his face, he made a vain, but fruitless attempt to force the blood away from his face before returning to the table and sitting across of Matsumoto.

"Thanks," he said, placing his hands together before picking up his chopsticks and picking up one of the pickled vegetables on one of the plates. After he had determined it to not be poisonous, he picked at the broiled fish in front of him. Surprised that it was as it looked, simply a filet of broiled fish, he began to enjoy his meal more visibly.

"It's good," he said quietly, sipping the steaming bowl of soup. He had heard about the indiscriminate taste buds of Orihime and Matsumoto and was worried that she might cook the weird concoctions that Kurosaki Ichigo's friend often created.

"I'm glad," Matsumoto said, putting down her own rice bowl. "I was worried that maybe you had eaten already or maybe that you didn't like fish."

Hitsugaya was very quiet, as he enjoyed the subtle saltiness of the fish and the tangy vinegar of the vegetables that went well with the simplicity of the miso soup with tiny circles of green onion and cubes of tofu floating around. Matsumoto, however, did not like this whole silent atmosphere and began chatting to fill the silence.

"Taichou, I went to the supermarket and there were so many weird things there," she started, as she tried to get his attention. "The employees were manning these mini booths that allowed the customers to try the food before they bought them. What a concept!"

When she was certain that he was listening, she continued with her story. "And well, I tasted all these weird things that we don't have in the Seireitei. There was this weird alcohol made from grapes called 'vine' or 'wine' or something. Can you imagine that? Alcohol not made of rice? Oh and I tried like 3 different kinds of cheese today. I don't know if I like the cheese that comes from this country called 'America'. It tasted kinda weird but the one from 'France' was really soft and delicate. And right next to the cheese booth was this guy selling these mini sausages. And part of the display though, he created this village made out of sausages. He had mice, people, trees, bridges, and even octopi made of sausages!"

Hitsugaya eyed Matsumoto as she described her shopping adventures with grandiose gestures from the sausage village, to her trip to the department stores in search of some clothing, the two hollows she ran into while she was looking for some shoes, and the phone numbers from three guys and one girl she had received while walking around in town.

"It was amazing, taichou. The Material World is really exciting. How was your job?"

"Nothing special," he responded, resting his chopstick at the edge of one of the plates.

"What were you doing?"

"Moving furniture."

"Moving furniture? That's an odd job…"

"In the Material World, there are people who change residences quite frequently and they pay to have people help them move boxes and furniture into their new apartments and homes."

"Oh, I see…Hey, taichou, why weren't you at Urahara-san's place?" asked Matsumoto. "Isn't it easier for you to work from there?"

"I decided that since I wasn't sure how long I would be dispatched here, I would find myself and apartment. It's a lot quieter and makes me stand out less—well at least on a physical level. In terms of reiatsu, it doesn't really matter where I live, as I'm still 'visible' regardless of where I live, but at least it helps me to blend in with society a lot better. As you probably already know, I'm not here to do hollow control or do administrative work like that guy with the afro that stands on top of buildings here. Kurosaki Ichigo generally takes care of the hollows and I'm not entirely sure what the guy with the afro does, but I'm here to look for signs that Aizen is starting to make his move. With several bursts of reiatsu that have been observed and documented, I'm supposed to be doing surveillance of the city. Since the issue was that Aizen was making contact with some humans, I figured it would be easier for me to come by information if I blended in better with the humans. Not that Aizen is stupid enough to contact me and tell me his plans, but maybe I can find the humans who have made contact with Aizen by interacting more naturally within society."

"How goes the investigation? Any progress?"

"Not much. To be honest, Matsumoto, I'm not sure why they sent me here. I think my existence is actually a hindrance to the investigation. With me here in the Material World, I think that Aizen is less likely to blatantly pursue whatever preparations he had been making up until my deployment. So far, I have not observed any interaction since I came here. Maybe my role is deterrence, but I think Aizen will make his move regardless of what we do. It's only a matter of time. Though, I am rather curious as to why they sent you here despite their insistence on the secrecy of this mission. But anyway, if your role is to assist me with the investigation, then maybe you can help me follow up on some leads I have been meaning to examine or help me uncover some new leads or something tomorrow."

"Taichou, what do you tell people? I mean, you don't expect people to believe that you are just a 'normal' person do you?" Matsumoto asked, stacking up the dishes on the table and taking them to the sink.

"I tell them I'm half Japanese and was born and raised 'abroad' so they don't ask too many questions. Why?"

"Well, I ran into this lady when I was coming back from grocery shopping," Matsumoto began, as she began putting the leftover food into bowls and containers and taking them to the refrigerator.

"What lady?" asked Hitsugaya as he stacked up the rest of the dishes on the table and helped wipe the table.

"I don't know. She's an older lady, with graying hair, streaked purple and loud clothes—"

"Great, you ran into the landlord's wife—" muttered Hitsugaya.

"She asked me where I was going and when she saw where I 'lived' she asked about my relationship to you," Matsumoto responded as she began washing the dishes.

"And what did you say?" asked Hitsugaya picking up a towel and beginning to wipe the dishes.

"Well, I was so startled and I forgot that she could see me…" Matsumoto trailed off, placing the plate she had been washing onto the rack.

"Matsumoto," warned Hitsugaya dangerously.

"Taichou, please don't be mad—"

"Matsumoto, what did you say to her?"

"Well, she was saying how young people these days are falling into a state of moral depravity and that she was upset that the were so many people living here who weren't even married and they were raising two children. And she went on about the sacred institution of marriage, soo…."

Matsumoto had placed the last dish onto the rack and was wiping down the sink.

"What did you say to her?"

"Um, well, by that time, she saw me opening up your apartment and there was nowhere for me to run…so I kinda told her I was your wife…"

"MY WHAT?!" Hitsugaya said, dropping the plate.

"Taichou, it was to protect your image," protested Matsumoto, catching the plate midair and setting it on the counter. "I figured she was probably the landlord or something—"

"MATSUMOTO!" Hitsugaya shouted, blushing as he slapped his forehead.

"Aw, come on, taichou, it's not so bad—"

"Didn't that goddamn woman ask even more questions like why she's never seen you before?!"

"Yes, but it wasn't anything bad!" protested Matsumoto. "I just told her I had been out of town for awhile and I just came back. Why are you so upset?"

"Now we will have to pretend to be a couple in front of people!" groaned Hitsugaya miserably. Curse him for not following his intuition that he should have stayed home from work today. "It's bad enough that I have to be nice to that woman. She's so nosy and in everyone else's business, which is why I need her in the first place. She's one of my informants of suspicious behavior, though she doesn't know it. She invited you to tea, didn't she?"

"Yes, why?"

"Did you accept?"

"Of course."

"Damn."

"What's wrong with that? It could be fun, taichou, I mean, DARLING—"

"Never mind! I'm gonna go take a bath and go to bed!" said the blushing 10-bantai taichou.

"Let me come with you, taichou," Matsumoto teased.

"NO!…I mean, no thank you."

"Oh, but Darling, we're a couple and it's natural that the wife take care of her husband's needs—" She really was merciless when it came to teasing. "Let me wash your back for you!"

"You've already taken a bath!"

"But I could take another, just for you—" she offered following him to the bathroom.

"Matsumoto!"

"Okay, okay!" she said, as he slammed the door between them blushing furiously.

As soon as Matsumoto heard the sound of running water, she smiled and went to clean up the shopping bags that she had just dropped onto the floor when she came back. Going through the bags, she put away the four pairs of shoes she bought; lining them up neatly near the door on the little shoe rack she had also bought. Then she pulled out some hangers and began hanging her clothes in the closet, taking up seventy percent of the total closet space, which surprisingly still left room for more clothes, as her taichou had only been using about fifteen percent of the total closet space. The rest of her clothes went into the bottom two drawers of the dresser, which had been empty. After she folded up the shopping bags and stuck them in the kitchen, she decided to get ready for bed too.

Hitsugaya emerged from the bath, calmer, but by no means any more relaxed. He was still rather irritated by this recent development and with his towel wrapped around his waist, he exited the bathroom to find a light floral scent making its way through his nose. Finding no sign of Matsumoto, he changed into the yukata he normally slept in and towel dried his hair quickly noting that the pleasant mixture of perfume, face soap, and lotion was actually nice and relaxing.

He wandered back to the living room and found Matsumoto in her pajamas, a rather revealing pink silk nightgown the same color as the sash she wore with her shinigami uniform with a delicate lace pattern accentuating her bust, sitting in front of the television having a small flask of sake.

"Taichou!" she called, beckoning for him to come sit next to her. "Come have some sake. I had it in the fridge—it's really good."

He hesitated for a moment; then he thought "Why not? It's only Matsumoto and me…"

Hitsugaya walked over and sat several places away from her. Matsumoto ignored this fact and reached over to pour him some of her sake, as she laughed at the routine the comedians on TV were performing with the two men dressed as schoolgirls. The white haired taichou took a sip and swished the alcohol around in his mouth before allowing it to slip down his throat. The sake did not burn, but made his insides feel warm as it made its way down, which he took as a sign to consume a bit more. He gazed at Matsumoto as she was clearly enjoying her sake and pouring more into his glass, while she observed human entertainment at its crudest.

The 10-bantai taichou had several glasses of the clear rice-based alcohol before beginning to feel the sleep-inducing effects of the beverage. Downing the last bit in his glass, he stood up, wobbling slightly and opened up the living room, pushing the shoji door to reveal a bedroom. He pulled out an extra futon and laid it down next to the bed.

"You can sleep on the bed," he mumbled as he crawled under the futon on the floor and yawned loudly as he rolled over so that his back faced her.

Matsumoto looked up and smiled to herself at the sight of the sleepy taichou in front of her, who even though was inebriated was gentlemanly enough to offer her the bed and sleep on the floor. She turned off the television, and drank the last of the sake before taking the glasses to the sink. Checking to make sure the windows were closed and the door was locked, she turned off the light. Surprising even herself, she lifted up the futon and crawled under the covers next to the 10-bantai taichou, pressing her warm body up against his strong back.

"Not on your life—not unless you're sleeping with me in it," she whispered to the passed out taichou, as she too drifted off to sleep next to him.

To be continued…

0-0-0-0-0

Cue ending theme….

Kon: Woo-hoo! Look who's sleeping with the taichou! If it isn't Rangiku-chan, getting her taichou drunk and climbing into bed with him! I bet she purposely told that old lady that she was Toushirou's wife—

Hitsugaya: That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you—

Matsumoto: That's not true at all! That woman just asked me and I was totally tongue-tied, and being the loyal fukutaichou that I am, I protected his honor!

Yachiru: Who knew that big boobie-oneesan was such a good cook!

Matsumoto: Yachiru-chan, you're in this too?!

Yachiru: I wanna know what happens between big boobie-oneesan and shortie! Baldie, go find out!

Ikkaku: Don't call me 'Baldie'!

Yumichika: Ah, the sexual tension between Hitsugaya-taichou and Matsumoto-fukutaichou that is like a rose that has bloomed to its fullest! It's almost too much to bear!

Hitsugaya: What sexual tension?!

Matsumoto: Oh come on, taichou! Don't deny it. There is definitely something between us! I know you were checking Miki and Kiki out! They want to come out and play! Look, taichou! They're excited to see you too!

Hitsugaya: Matsumoto!!

Matsumoto: Oopsie! Don't go away! Yes, the author is lazy and horrible at updating, but I think things are about to get really good, between my taichou and me. This has got to be fate or destiny or something!

Hitsugaya: I still don't believe in fate…