Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach

Chapter Eleven - Back to Normal. . . Or Not

It was the last day of the officer switch and Hitsugaya and Rukia had already completed the day's paperwork and were now walking through the courtyard. This was the last day that they would be in the same squad and they wanted to make the most of the situation before she returned to Squad Thirteen. After all, they wouldn't get to see near as much of one another when she returned to her original squad.

"So," Rukia said as the two of them stepped through the gate that separated the Squad Ten courtyard from the rest of Seireitei. "Where shall we go Toushirou-san?"

Hitsugaya hadn't given any thoughts as to a destination for their little excursion and he held a thoughtful expression in his teal eyes for a few minutes. Then, having decided upon a destination, he began walking, leaving Rukia to follow along beside him.

Rukia was confused about where Hitsugaya was leading her however she wanted to spend this last day as his vice-captain with him and was willing to follow where ever he chose to lead. And as it turned out the place that he chose to lead her to was the river in District One. It was the place where their relationship had began, where the fascination that the two held for each other had gotten it's start.

"Tomorrow will officially bring an end to your time here in Squad Ten," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice as he sat down beneath his favorite tree.

"Yes," Rukia said as she came to sit beside him. She was well aware of this, in fact it was all that she had been able to think about all day. As a result of this the young woman was somewhat afraid that she may have made several mistakes on the paperwork however it had been harder than usual to corral her wandering thoughts enough to concentrate. She had actually debated formally requesting a transfer however had quickly thought better of the idea. If in fact she were to develop an actual relationship with Hitsugaya it wouldn't look good for them if they were in the same squad.

Not that it hadn't been done before but Rukia was already somewhat concerned about how her brother would react to this relationship and the last thing she wanted was for him to accuse her of fraternizing with her captain. No she would just have to suck it up and go back to Squad Thirteen.

But that didn't mean that she had to like it.

"I was thinking," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice, his teal eyes shifting from the river and coming to rest upon Rukia. "That once you are no longer officially under my command I would be honored if I could call you my girlfriend."

A wide smile instantly spread across Rukia's face as she heard these words come from his mouth. "I would be honored to bear that title."

It was Hitsugaya's turn to smile, although it was a small one since he hadn't yet perfected the art. Reaching into the fold of his shihakusho the young prodigy pulled out something and then turned his attention to Rukia once more. The young captain gently picked up her hand and Rukia felt something cool slide onto her finger. "I made this for you as a symbol of a promise that I am going to make to you. Rukia-san, I promise that from this moment forth I will do my best to make sure that you never again have that look of sorrow in your beautiful eyes."

Rukia gazed down at her hand, at the ring that he had placed on her second finger and not the finger that was reserved for a wedding band, and saw that it was an ice blue dragon that was now coiled around her finger. And it wasn't just the clear blue color, the ring actually appeared to have been made out of ice. It was in this moment that Rukia registered the words that Hitsugaya had just spoken to her. "I made something for you." A blush of pleasure rose to color her pretty face. "Thank you so much Toushirou-san. I'll treasure it always."

Now she would always have something to remind her of him during those times when they weren't together.

"You're welcome," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice.

"So is it made of ice?" Rukia asked, noticing that the ring had a slight chill to it. It wasn't enough to be unpleasant, just enough to be vaguely noticeable.

Hitsugaya nodded. "It is, actually. And there's a kidou barrier around it so that it will never melt no matter how hot the weather. I wanted to give you something unique to who I am."

"And you did a wonderful job," Rukia said with a smile.

Hitsugaya returned the smile however it faded somewhat as he thought about something that hadn't came to mind until just now. "So, just out of curiosity, how do you think your brother is going to react to this information?"

Rukia's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about Byakuya, not that she really cared whether or not he objected. This was her life and she had vowed to herself and to Ichigo that she was going to live it for herself and do what made her happy.

And in this moment in time being with Toushirou was what made her happy.

"I have no idea," Rukia replied honestly. "But it doesn't matter."

Hitsugaya nodded. He was willing to brave anything in order to be with this woman and if that meant dealing with her brother's scorn then so be it. As long as it didn't adversely affect her in any way then he could deal with it. Come what may. It wasn't as though he didn't have practise dealing with the ridicule of others. He'd been dealing with that his entire life, in one form or another. "You are the most important person to me."

Without thinking about any possible consequences Rukia leaned forward and gently brushed her lips against his, uniting the two of them in a gentle and yet at the same time passionate kiss. This was the first time that the two young Shinigami had ever shown their affection in this manner and when they pulled apart both were blushing slightly.

"See? I told you that the two of them needed a chaperone," a voice called out from the bushes, completely ruining the moment.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed in anger as Captain Kyouraku emerged from the underbrush, followed closely behind by both Nanao and Matsumoto. An image of himself murdering his vice-captain ran through the young prodigy's head and it took every ounce of willpower that he possessed to keep from making that dream a reality.

"I apologize Captain Hitsugaya," Nanao said as she adjusted the glasses that she wore. "I tried to stop the two of them but. . ."

"Let me guess," Hitsugaya said as he massaged his temples with the tips of his fingers. He felt the beginnings of a migraine forming and was annoyed that this was what had became of his quiet evening with Rukia. "They've been drinking?"

"Correct," Nanao said.

"Toushirou-kun, you little dog." There was a gleam in the Squad Eight Captain's eyes as he gazed at Hitsugaya.

"Ugh," the young prodigy groaned, shaking his head. "This isn't happening," he thought to himself, doing his best to lapse into denial.

Kyouraku and Matsumoto began talking to one another in loud voices and Rukia used this opportunity to seize Hitsugaya by the hand. "Come on," she whispered, her gaze briefly returning to the two arguing drunks. "Looks like this is the right time to make a strategic withdrawal."

Hitsugaya nodded and together the two of them slipped into the forest and disappeared.

"Hey," Matsumoto said as she noticed that Hitsugaya and Rukia had disappeared. "Where'd the captain and Rukia-chan go?"

"I don't know," Kyouraku said while Nanao made it a point to look the other way. "We should find them."

"Yes!"

At that moment, as though coming from nowhere, a voice called out, "Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

And with those words a huge wall of ice formed, surrounding the three intruders and blocking their escape route.

"Captain!"

Ignoring the plaintive voice of his vice-captain Hitsugaya once again took hold of Rukia's hand and together the two of them made their way back to the Squad Ten barracks. The place seemed fairly deserted and the young couple made their way to the private garden that belonged solely to Hitsugaya.

"Maybe we can get some privacy here," the young captain muttered as he and Rukia sat side by side on the small porch that connected his room with the garden.

"I think that's a pretty safe bet," Rukia said with a smile, thinking back to the three people who had invaded their privacy. "Since it will probably take them a little while to escape from that ice barrier."

A smirk appeared on Hitsugaya's face. "It'll take more than a little time. I synchronized a kidou barrier spell with Hyourinmaru, to fortify the ice and make it more resilient against attacks. I'm sure that Ise-san will be able to remove the kidou but it should take them a little while to realize what I did."

"Prodigy huh?" Rukia said with a smile. "More like evil genius."

"Hey," Hitsugaya snapped, although the small smile on his face belied the harshness of his tone. "I didn't start this fight in case you've forgotten."

"Of course you didn't start it," Rukia said through her laughter. "But you did a marvelous job of ending it."

Hitsugaya shook his head. "It isn't over. This is just the end of round one. Now they'll take some time to regroup and come up with a strategy. Hell, they may even recruit reinforcements."

"Are we really that interesting?"

"Apparently so," Hitsugaya muttered. "But let's not think about that."

Rukia nodded as she leaned forward and gave him another gentle kiss. There really was nowhere that she would rather be and it was going to be hard adjusting to life as the Squad Thirteen vice-captain. Although once they were no longer superior and subordinate then it would be easier to get Byakuya to accept their relationship.

At least she hoped that would be how it worked.

A/N - and there's the end of another chapter. Hope you enjoyed, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.