It's been a long time, and I know that I said on my profile that I'd be taking a break. But that didn't stop me from trying, and today I finally managed to get into the mood enough to write something. I've had this idea in my head for a long time, ever since reading the first prequel chapter of the manga which just happened to star my favorite couple. Must commemorate that, mustn't I? So, I put this together.
Sorry for the abysmally long wait. My brain hasn't been working too well lately.
Matsumoto was used to a quiet captain.
Hitsugaya was a generally brooding individual, who found it much more preferable to live within his own head than deal with others. Matsumoto had met any number of people just like him, and so she had long since grown to accept it.
"Oi! Toushirou! C'mon, talk to me!"
...Sometimes.
Hitsugaya, to his credit, was used to a loud adjutant. He knew that his second was almost never content to let her thoughts go unannounced, and that she sometimes simply had to talk.
So, he generally ignored it.
He'd learned to ignore loud people a long, long time ago.
"Would you tell me where we're going?"
He looked around at the old buildings, basking in the mist of nostalgia, and found it rather amusing that he felt at peace here. Here, in this place that had been so stifling, so confining. This place had been like a prison to him, and now...it felt like home.
He looked back at his new prison, at the walls that held him in so often, and marveled at the irony. He turned his attention back to the dirt crunching beneath his feet and almost laughed.
The grass really was greener, even if it didn't grow.
Eventually, Matsumoto gave up. Marvel of marvels, she gave up.
Contenting herself with stroking the tiny head of the still-nameless kitten that she had taken to calling the two-and-a-half seat of the Tenth Division, she simply sighed and looked around, alternating between smiling and glaring at the innumerable men who stopped to stare at her.
The braver ones, who took that smile much more literally than they should have, never got close enough to "strike up conversation," because the temperature had the strangest habit of dropping to near-freezing whenever they tried.
Hitsugaya's expression never changed, and his eyes never strayed from straight ahead.
She wondered what had him so preoccupied. Not like it was anything new, of course, but it wasn't like her captain was the sort to let his mind wander aimlessly.
Hitsugaya Toushirou's mind never wandered.
She knew that it wasn't an assignment that had him walking through the streets of Junrinan, else he would have told her. And yet, he had taken her along.
"Am I going to have to guess why we're here?"
She didn't expect an answer, and he didn't disappoint.
"What do you think, little one?" she asked the kitten. "Hm? Why's Daddy all quiet-like? Do you think he's getting Mommy a birthday present?"
The cat was no more talkative than Hitsugaya was.
He stopped at a place that was no more remarkable than any other, but for some reason Matsumoto found it familiar. She stared at the house for some time, wondering why.
Hitsugaya looked both nervous and elated. He stood still for a long while before finally drawing in a deep breath and walking up and knocking on the door, quickly enough that he couldn't convince himself not to.
Matsumoto walked, more slowly, up to her captain's side, and heard a soft, elderly voice call out for them to come in.
Hitsugaya stiffened at the sound of the woman's voice, and memories began swirling up into Matsumoto's head as she followed him inside.
The woman who lived in the house was, like most elderly folk in Soul Society, positively ancient. It wouldn't have surprised Matsumoto to hear that this woman was as old as the commander-general.
Despite that, the sparkle in her eyes was vibrant, aware, and Matsumoto thought she would remain that way for a good, long time. The wonders of the afterlife, she supposed. The second half of the cycle went on so much longer than the first.
Hitsugaya sat before the woman, and Matsumoto followed suit.
The woman seemed not to be paying any attention to the two of them as she set about making tea. Hitsugaya waited, silent and still nervous, and accepted the cup he was offered only after the woman offered it a second time.
"It's been a while," she said finally.
Hitsugaya nodded, chagrined. "It...it has."
"Don't you worry," the woman said with a laugh. "I know how you are. So busy. Busy enough to forget that you don't have to prove anything to anyone. I think you've made your point now, don't you think?"
"...Maybe."
The woman laughed, and Matsumoto smiled slightly.
"And who is this lovely lady?" the woman asked, handing Matsumoto a cup of her own, which she accepted gratefully – the first time.
When Hitsugaya didn't answer immediately, the woman went on.
"I knew you'd come back, Toushirou," she said, "when you finally had enough control over yourself to be confident. But I always thought–" here she chuckled "-Bed-Wetter Momo would be with you."
Hitsugaya flinched. "Y-Yes, well..."
"How is she?"
"She's...she's well enough," he said. "A...new captain has been appointed to her division. She's...adapting."
"Good for her. I heard what happened."
Noting that neither of them seemed to be enjoying this line of conversation, the woman smiled wryly.
"...Is that why she isn't here?"
"Something like that," Hitsugaya murmured softly, taking a slow drink and averting his eyes. "We...we don't talk much anymore."
"You never did much talking in the first place," the woman said, and at this Matsumoto actually laughed.
Hitsugaya blushed faintly, and drew in a deep breath.
"...Granny..."
The word sounded foreign coming from him, and he seemed to realize this because he stopped as soon as he'd said it, seemed about to amend himself, and then stopped again.
"Yes, Toushirou?" the woman asked softly.
He looked up and smiled, reaching over thoughtlessly and taking hold of one of Matsumoto's hands. Matsumoto smiled, sipping at her tea and winking at the old woman she had first met years and years before.
"I...I want you to meet someone."