A/N: Hello dear readers! I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, but I've been very busy with school and caught up in a terrible writer's block. It's not completely gone, and I had to force myself to write this but here it is! An extra long chapter! I think...hahaa XD

OH! And the long awaited Tattoo Sequel is finally HERE! ZOMG! It's not that good though, and after you've read it, you wanna kill me. I promise.

Anyway, the sequel is number 59.

Number 58 was inspired from their horrible and weird dream I had. And I know the idea for Matsumoto's Bankai sucks but I'm not that creative XD

Hmm...number 59 contains SPOLIERS!!!

For those of you who haven't read the BLEACH manga omake about Hitsugaya as a kid meeting Matsumoto shouldn't read that drabble, since I borrowed Matsumoto's speech from it.

More notes at the end.

OMG 91 REVIEWS SO FAR WAAAHH IT WOULD BE SO COOL TO REACH 100!

-hint-hint-

Oh and so sorry for typos and grammar mistakes! Written late at night, high on sugar, so it's to be expected but yeah...sorry XD

PS: I've got a poll on my profile I'd like you to check out too:D NOW I'm done lol.



o-Seize the Moment-o

-or lose the opportunity-

58. Bankai

Who would've thought, that it was possible? She certainly hadn't. A few months back, she might've said it was a possibility. A year ago she'd laughed her ass off. But here she was, standing tall with blazing, icy eyes focused ahead. Her bakai released – the reason to her late nights and heavy hangovers not far away – Matsumoto Rangiku felt powerful. Her anger, her hurt and pain fueled her passion as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Screams and metal against metal deafened her ears, blood and dirt dulled her scent, cuts and bruises numbed her skin and his ever-lasting grin blinded her eyes. There was nothing, nothing at all, but him. She leapt through clouds of dust, she swung her zanpaktou's lonely guard and directed hot, burning ash towards anyone who dared interfere. He was hers.

Metal grew longer, aiming to pierce her heart but failing. How arrogant, she mused. He could not survive this, there was no chance. She could end it now, with one flick of her wrist, but her mind was screaming in agony and long of release. He would suffer; he would go down with a fight. No matter what he'd done, her heart ached for him more than because of him. Dying seconds after entering a fight was not what she wished for him and his twisted pride. Maybe she did it out of pity, or affection, or cruelty. She honestly did not know.

Her sleeve was cut open. Her fingers bled and a trail of sweat disappeared down her cleavage. He had yet to release his own beast, his own bankai Good, she would not allow him to.

Piercing pain; gut-wrenching agony. His sword was planted deep in her shoulder. It slid across her bones, cut into her flesh like a knife in butter. Somewhere, she heard a scream. It couldn't be her own; why would she shout her own name? Gritting her teeth at the effort of staying remotely still as he withdrew his blade from her body, she got ready. This had gone on long enough.

The screaming continued.

What? Did she look that bad? Detached from reality, she saw his eyes open wide. He was ready, ready to kill. Well, she thought, so am I. Guiding her zanpakou with a simple move of her arm and hand, she whispered a command lost to the battle cries around her. Black ash, glowing and emitting hellish flames, flew towards him. Burning his eyes and skin, surrounding his body within seconds, it growled and hissed viciously. He screamed in pain as the fine ash crept up his nose and down his throat; entering his body swiftly. She could only image his pain, could only compare it to her own as she flicked her wrist and sent him to his death. His heart must be in a million pieces, his insides wrecked and useless. She watched as he fell, slowly it seemed, towards the ground. The end. It was the end. Of everything they'd shared, memories, one-sided feelings and regret. How come she's not crying? Where are her tears? Puzzled, she sinks to the ground. Her dazed state prevents her from reacting to the call of her name, the feel of familiar spirit energy and strong arms slinking around her waist. A jolt of pain as she is roughly dragged along in a flash-step shakes her mind and clears the dull and numbed thoughts. She finds herself outside the battlefield, hastily pulled towards a small, flat chest and uncomfortably placed on the ground; her waist slightly twisted to allow her position against the smaller frame. The grip of her trusted zanpaktou loosens and she allows herself to breathe out. The pain is beating like a pulse in her ears, and the desperate questions and accusations are muffled. But it doesn't matter. With a smile, she recognizes the voice. She knows his name.

-

"Did you see it, Captain? My…Bankai?"

-

-

o-oOo-o

59. Curiosity Killed the Cat

Rolling her shoulders, cracking her neck, stretching her arms, bumping up and down on her tiptoes a few times, throwing her hair back and finally cracking her fingers in another stretch of her arms, Matsumoto Rangiku looked quite strange. Amusing, but strange. The mocking glint in her eyes and her crooked smile only confirmed his suspicions; she knew he was up to something. Perhaps asking her for a sparring session wasn't that smart, but he was getting desperate. If this wouldn't work, he would allow her to win and then buy her crazy amounts of sake to 'celebrate' and try to trick her in her intoxicated state. Perhaps that would be easier?

Well, drunk or not, Matsumoto was still quite observant and annoyingly good at reading his behavior. The fact that she was rubbing it in right now didn't help matters.

"Ready Captain?" she chirped, grinning as she took a stance and grabbed her zanpaktou. He followed suit, not bothering to reply. He needed to land a perfect hit, cutting through fabric enough for whatever she had to be revealed but not enough for her uniform to slip loose. That would be quite embarrassing.

Frowning, he went for an attack. She blocked it easily, disappearing for a second before reappearing behind. He twisted around and shielded himself with his blade, pushing back as she tried to get him off balanced. She fell back and returned to her former stance, waiting. She was very good at dodging his attacks, so he needed to concentrate. As his eyes thinned, locking on a possible opening, he prepared for another attack. This time, he would land a hit.

It wasn't until the ripping of fabric and the surprised gasp reached his ear that he realized he didn't know which side the tattoo was on. Swallowing, he turned his head. What was he going to see? Had he picked the right side? Directing his gaze down to the little skin exposed on her right hip, he groaned in annoyance. Nothing!

"Aw! Captain, if you wanted me naked you could've just asked!" Her cooing brought him back from his thoughts of failure and he flushed a deep red.

"Matsumoto!" he snapped, embarrassment written all over him. She grinned and sheathed her sword, before placing her left hand on her hips and letting her right hand finger the split fabric.

"I can't fight like this," she said with a mock pout, winking. "I better go change! It was nice of you to ask me to spar; we haven't done that in ages! Well, have a good day Captain. See ya!"

And she was gone. Yet again. He felt like strangling someone, or at least blow up four or five buildings.

A week, a whole bloody week of trying and still nothing! Was it really worth it? It was just a tattoo after all, who cares?

But it had made Matsumoto Rangiku blush. Matsumoto Rangiku, blush

He supposed the long hours of trying to come up with subtle questions and the agonizing effort of being in Abarai's, Yumichika's and Ikkaku's company is worth it for the greater cause. Not everything had been that bad, really. Nanao was, if impossible to persuade, quite an enjoyable company. He'd known the lieutenant's of the 8th and 10th divisions was close, but it seemed they shared a deep friendship despite their differences. He hadn't been able to find out anything he didn't already know, not even when laying heavy emphasis on the fact that Matsumoto could be quite reckless and do things she'd regret or that was considered pretty…improper. Instead, when he'd walked out of the 8th division's office, he'd felt strangely puzzled rather than gloriously enlightened. It had felt as if she'd gained information even though he'd been the one asking questions.

Sighing in agitation, he decided to retire to his office for now. He would go to the bar tonight and seek the drunk Matsumoto out instead of being the one paying for the seemingly endless bottles of sake, coming to the conclusion that it would be less suspicions that way. The day he bought sake to his alcoholic lieutenant was the day he was out of ideas, which he wasn't. Yet.

As he sat down by his desk and decided to make a sort of mental list. What had he done so far? What could he do more? He would find out her secret. No matter what.

Why would she get a tattoo with connections to him anyway? As far as he knew, tattoo's were permanent. It irked him not to have an answer.

Shaking his head, he started to count up the different little adventures he'd been on these past few days.

Day 1: Staring constantly at Matsomoto, trying to grasp the concept of her having a tattoo and that she had actually blushed.

Day 2: Returning to Soul Society and avoiding Matsumoto like the plague, she'd been more than a little suspicious at his sudden interest and she'd taken any opportunity available to make embarrassing assumptions and suggestions.

Day 3: Plotting was finally started. Staring hadn't been enough for her to suddenly confess her secret out of guilt. Or something like that.

Day 4: He'd found out what various beauty supplies was by engaging Yumichika in a conversation. This had led him to believe Matsumoto was a kind soul deep down inside for sparing him the detailed description of how she made her hair look so shiny and touchable.

Day 5: Figuring it couldn't get worse, he'd gone to Ikkaku in hope of that as her drinking partner, he would know and not get into heated rants about split ends and ugly people. Sadly, it had gone worse. He now knew more that he'd liked to know about Matsumoto's drunken escapades, and was mortified to learn she'd composed a song about Shiro-chan and his adorable moods. He'd done well without the knowledge that she'd French-kissed Hinamori once too. No wonder she blushed whenever his lieutenant was around.

Day 6: Now realizing that asking Abarai would be pretty logical, since he'd been the one to bring it up in the first place, he'd gone to the 6th division only to find Byakuya shoving candy down a hyper pinkhead's throat. Apparently Abarai was off training, so he'd had to spend an hour finding exactly where. Once he did, he wished he hadn't. Kuchiki Rukia had been there, and while Abarai was on a break she'd probably started giving him 'feedback' in the form of drawings. Abarai had almost run him over in his relief of being excused. His information had been useless though. He knew, but wouldn't tell. It was almost amusing to watch his pathetic attempts to change subject. It had ended with a surprisingly serious advice on Abarai's part. "If she hasn't told you yet, then she doesn't want you to know yet. Ask her herself if you really want to know," he'd said. Not much help there either.

Now having arrived to day 7, with another failure to add, he felt rather tempted to actually ask her himself. But if he did, and she didn't answer, then she'd know exactly what he was after and do her best to actually hide it. She wasn't making an effort now, because she didn't know that he knew.

All in all, this was all getting pretty frustrating he concluded.

But he wouldn't give up.

oOo

"I'm telling you, he's up to something!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air to further stress her statement. Nanao blinked, hiding a smirk behind her hand as she watched Rangiku pace back and forth.

"Maybe he's just finally realized what a beautiful woman you are and how lucky he is, Ran-chan," the Captain of the 8th division cooed, resting on his desk with sake bottle in hand.

"Tsk, poor Captain wouldn't know attraction even if it came hitting him in his face. Trust me, I've tried," she muttered, coming to a stop in front of the desk and swiftly taking the sake bottle. Draining a healthy gulp of the liquid, she shook her head sadly and continued her restless pacing; ignoring the whimpers from the Captain already missing his alcohol.

"Would you two please stop drinking in the office, during work hours?" Nanao drawled, sighing when she realized no one was listening. Well, what had she expected?

"First, he stared at me like I've grown an extra head or something, then he avoids me, and then he starts disappearing at random to gods knows where! I don't know what's going on! Shunsui, what should I do?" Her rant was slightly slurred due to her intoxicated state. How she'd managed to consume so much sake this early in the day was a mystery to Nanao, especially since she was sure it wasn't long ago she'd been off to spar with Captain Hitsugaya. If only she could find her stock of sake, then perhaps she could reduce her drinking habits to a more normal level.

"Easy, Ran-chan. You just have to…find out!" her Captain chirped, taking her back to the cruel reality. Having two infamous drunks in the same office with just one, quickly emptying, bottle of sake was, indeed, a cruel fate.

"YEAH!" came Rangiku's eager reply, her expression impressed. Her brain must be working overtime now, Nanao mused. "I'll just find out what he's after! Thank you Shunsui, Nanao!"

And with that, the inebriated bundle of energy and spontaneous stupidity was gone. Sighing, the remaining lieutenant walked over to slap some sense into her crying Captain; taking his mind off his bottle of sake Rangiku had brought with her. She wondered who would find out first; Captain Hitsugaya, or Rangiku?

oOo

After walking around for a good while, she decided that she wasn't going to be able to form a plan. So, sticking with the easiest and most logical course of action, Matsumoto Rangiku makes her way towards the office of the 10th division.

She was just going to ask him, it was a piece of cake! Grinning, she entered and spotted her white-haired Captain by his usual place behind the large desk of his.

"Heeeeeey Captain!" she greeted, skipping over to where he sat. Looking up, he eyed her suspiciously. "I've got something to ask you!"

"Oh?" he drawled, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. Eagerly, she sits down on the edge of the desk and leans forward slightly; poking his chest with a finger.

"Yeah, yeah! You know how strange you've been acting Captain? There's something you wanna know, isn't there? What is it? Tell me!"

Swatting her hand away, he frowns and struggles to keep his blush down. She seems drunk enough not to notice, but this woman could hold her liquor and looks can be deceiving.

"Stop this nonsense. What makes you say that?" he muttered, sending her a glare.

"C'mon Captain! It started after we'd been in the living world, didn't it? So…it's gotta have happened somewhere before then…hmm… Is it about your boxers?"

His eyes thinned to slits. "What about them?"

"Ehehehehehe, never mind. Um, is it about how I disappeared for an afternoon? I was just off shopping!"

"So that was what you did. Matsumoto, how many times do I---"

"---no? Okay, is it about that cat?"

"Wha---"

"—or the spiked coke?"

"Matsu—"

"---maybe it's about that rental car, I swear I was going to return it unharmed but—"

"---would you please let me---"

"---ooohh it's the tattoo, isn't it?"

He blinked, staring blankly at her happy smile. She'd just admitted she had one, now this was his chance!

"Oh, damn," she said, seeing his reaction. Her smile faded along with her pleased feeling of having figured out what was wrong. He wasn't supposed to know about that!

"Matsumoto," he began, taking a firm hold of her wrist to keep her from fleeing, "spill."

Somehow, she knew she shouldn't have tried to figure out what was on his mind.

o-oOo-o

60. Remembered

"Hey brat, have you even thought of becoming a Shinigami

Just so you know...if things stay as they are…this power of yours will overwhelm you and do ever greater harm to those around you.

A half pint with your kinda strength needs to learn how to keep it under wraps.

It's like a voice is echoing in your head…am I right?

You must identify the source…then and only then can you begin the long journey to mastering your powers. In order to do that, you have no other choice but to become a Shinigami

Hope you heard me, 'cuz I hate having to repeat myself…

Munchkin…"

She wouldn't have to repeat herself, he mused. He remembered her little speech word by word. He'd done as she'd said, he was even a top student now. His zanpaktou's name was Hyōrinmaru, the strongest of ice and water zanpaktous. He would not let his own powers harm those around him, he would gain complete control over the insanely strong dragon within. But what she had failed to mention, was how mind-numbingly boring it was.

He'd already surpassed most in his classes, been moved up several years, and was still not satisfied. Information was easily absorbed, easily remembered, yet it was repeated again and again. Kidou spells were easily memorized, but difficult to handle properly, and yet they went through the written basics still he was ready to stop going to class and start training on his own. Same went for swordplay, fencing and traditional, rough fighting. The instructors kept the fights restrained, kept them under control and forced them to use simple, easily dodged moves that was for the amateurs they were so happily criticizing.

He was desperate for a change in the never-ending routine of his classes, and it was a pleasant surprise to learn that they would finally fight hollows. Only weak ones, of course. And under the supervision an already graduated and experienced Shinigami. But still, it would be fighting

"You will be divided into groups of three and each group will be given a supervisor, who will make sure nothing goes wrong. He or she will be to your help, and will also report back to tell us how you handled the situation. Listen carefully as I call up your names and give you your Shinigami's name and your group's number," their teacher explained. The young, white-haired boy listened dispassionately as several names was called, along with this. "Hitsugaya Toshrio" was heard, and he looked up in response. He was in group 7, together with Tarou and Kazu. Their supervisor was one Matsumoto Rangiku. He wondered if she was a cold woman, ruthless and chaotic or if she was a beauty, tender and warm. Her name had a strange combination in its meanings.

"You will all gather outside after lunch and then head out with your respective teammates and supervisor. Remaining information will be given to you later on. Class dismissed!"

Students moved, swiftly exiting the classroom while talking excitedly among themselves. Toshiro moved out of the way and easily snuck passed elbows and arms to escape the class. He was used to the disadvantages of his size, along with his young age and superior intellect. Easily mistaken for a little snotty brat, or not seen at all, he'd learn to dodge whatever obstacle put in his way. The sneers and snide comments about arrogance didn't anger him anymore, only made him annoyed. If they were outsmarted by a kid, they didn't have much to brag about anyway.

"Hey! Toshiro!" Kazu called, coming up from behind. Toshiro guessed he could've had worse luck; Kazu was actually a pretty nice guy apart from his perverted streak, which made him quite infamous among the females.

"We got a female! I wonder how she is, eh?" What a surprising question, Toshiro mused with a sigh. "With you in our group we'll surely impress her! I wonder what type of guys she likes…hmm..Raniku-san, eh? Chrysanthemum is a beautiful flower, I bet she is too. What do you think, Toshiro?"

"I think she must be reliable since she was given the responsibility of keeping guys like you safe," he drawled, removing Kazu's hand from his shoulder. He shot him a mock-hurt look, lips twitching as he tried to suppress a grin.

"That was mean Toshiro-kun! But oh well, you'll change your mind once I save your ass!"

"Right."

Kazu continued to make small-talk, forcing Toshiro to silently admit he missed talking this openly with someone. While Kazu was polite and nice to everyone, he wasn't a real…friend. More like a closer classmate. But he didn't complain, the company was surprisingly enjoyable as they sat through lunch together. He had his hopes up from this upcoming teamwork. Now, if only Tarou would be sensible enough to try and get along. He thought he did, but you never know. It was almost ridiculous how many different reaction Toshiro could get from people.

"Okay you lazy asses line up!" a familiar voice called as they reached the appointed meeting place along with the rest of the class.

"Wow, check out that rack! She's hot!" Kazu hissed, eyes as wide as Toshiro's. Oh he remembered them, those big air bags that'd run over him almost three years ago, and her cold, blue eyes were exactly like he remembered them. Blazing, burning, lively. The only thing that had changed was the length of her hair, now a bit passed her shoulders rather that a bit above. It was almost scary how well he had remembered her.

"Wipe that drool off and move dammit!" came her annoyed roar, setting several males into action, including Toshiro, Kazu and a newly joined Tarou. While everyone else went to their own supervisor – all of them looking extremely bored apart from Matsumoto Rangiku who just seemed to be pissed at being here – group 7 made their way towards the intimidating woman.

"So, you wimps are in my group, eh?" she said as they reached her. Toshiro frowned, ready to retort when she continued. "Well then, let's kick some Hollows' ass!"

Turning abruptly, she started to walk away. Blinking, Toshiro hurried up to follow along with his two teammates who had remained silent and slightly taken aback at her behavior. It surely didn't match her beautiful, delicate looks but Toshiro had met her once before and was just slightly surprised. The fact that she didn't seem to recognize him was more surprising to say the least. Who forgets a kid with white hair who almost turned an old woman into an icicle? Matsumoto Rangiku, apparently.

The way to whatever training grounds they had been given was spent mostly in silence, interrupted only by Kazu's attempt and rising a conversation. The only one interested seemed to be Tarou, much to Kazu's dismay.

"Matsumoto-san," Toshiro finally addressed her, barely earning a hum in response. Where the hell was her manners?!

"Are we going to get orders, or will we be fighting and handling the situation on our own?"

She turned her head and flashed him a grin, blue eyes twinkling. "Good question kiddo; you seem to have understood the importance of following orders. And yes, I will give you a few but other than that, I'll just be sitting back and enjoy the show!"

Grunting in reply, he continued to walk in silence. As soon as they arrived, Matsumoto told them to work together and kill all the Hollows except for one, which they would try and capture alive. How they were going to do that, Toshiro had no idea. They had barely received enough training in kidou spells to know how to restrain a full-grown hollow, no matter how weak.

As they set to work, Matsumoto lived up to her words and sat patiently awaiting a time where she needed to step in. It went surprisingly sooth, till they came to the last Hollow. Toshiro had singled it out as the weakest the first thing he did, and hand asked his teammates to leave it till last. Now, the only thing left was to bring it down alive. His mind seemed to work on overtime, the rush of dangers of a real fight urging him on. He went through the latest spells he'd learned at a frantic speed, not stumbling upon anyone that would be of help. Avoiding the Hollow's strikes and attacks, the group was at a loss.

With a flash of blonde and black, the Hollow was bound to the ground with kidou ropes summoned by a spell. Toshiro frowned as he landed on the ground, a few feet away from Matsumoto where she stood beside the Hollow. The rest of the group followed suit, standing still as they waited for her to speak.

"Well, seems like things haven't changed," she mused, an amused smile tugging at her full lips. Toshiro raised a brow in question before she continued. "They haven't taught you much kidou, that's for sure. Pretty stupid if you ask me."

Drawing her sword, she brought it down through the Hollow's mask and finished it off. "I just wanted to confirm my suspicions by asking you to retrain this Hollow. It's not usually something that needs to be done, unless it's a special case and it shows some kind of abnormality that needs to be examined. Well, that aside, since you finished this so quickly why don't I teach you that spell, hm? We don't need to be back for an hour or two anyway."

Kazu and Tarou agreed eagerly and grinned widely, eyes shining with excitement. Toshiro himself was frowning, puzzled at her attitude. He wasn't about to turn her offer down though, anything new to learn was welcomed after all.

Explaining the technique and the summoning words, Matsumoto turned her focus to him as Kazu and Tarou set to work.

"Hey, kiddo," she began, grinning. "I see you took my advice."

"You remember me?" he asked, confused. She laughed and patted his back roughly, making him wince slightly.

"Of course kiddo! I just didn't want to give you any extra attention. I know how jealous guys get, especially around geniuses," she explained with a wink, ruffling his hair. Miffed, he swatted her hand away and growled.

"Thank you, I guess," he muttered, getting ready to try the new spell. "Just stop calling me kiddo!"

She laughed as she turned her attention towards the other two males, correcting their mistakes and ignoring his demand. He started wondering what part of her name's meaning was the most fitting, finding her personality chaotic but her looks beautiful. Maybe it was too early to tell, but then again, he might not ever get a chance to talk to her again.

He would make sure to remember this day as clear as the one those few years ago.

"A half pint with your kinda strength needs to learn how to keep it under wraps."

-

"You must identify the source…then and only then can you begin the long journey to mastering your powers. In order to do that, you have no other choice but to become a Shinigami"

"Hope you heard me, 'cuz I hate having to repeat myself…"

"Munchkin…"

o-oOo-o


A/N: Please ignore my badbad imagination when it comes to names. Kazu and Tarou isn't correct names. Kazu is used at the end of Japanese male names, I think, and Tarou is together with the surname Yamada the same as John Smith in English. For those who doesn't know what that is, I can only say...wtf? XD Haha sorry, lol, it's typical stereotype name. If I remember it correctly, Jack Sparrow in PotC uses that name in the first movie...

Anyway, moving on...

For those who didn't know, when you split the name Rangiku one part means war/riot and the other chrysanthemum.

I think that's about it.

No, wait! Munchkin means "a small person" and is also the name for a group of fictional characetrs from the Wizard of Oz (but the latter isn't the case this time haha). Oh yeah and it's a cat breed too. I think.

Also, about the Tattoo Sequel, I am aware that it is imcomplete as a story but I didn't want it to get too long so I stopped there. I'll write a follow up, but it depends on what you people want.

Now THAT was all the info I had.

Please review:D