Chapter 18: From the Eyes of Rangiku

'Here Captain,' Rangiku handed the white haired shinigami a piece of paper that she'd been asked to deliver by someone from the Fifth Division. She hadn't looked at it, assuming that it wouldn't make any sense to her anyway, but she hadn't delayed giving it to the captain like usual either.

It was often the case that she actually did her job better when she was preoccupied than when she wasn't.

'Hinamori's hosting a party of sorts today in the Fifth Division,' Toshiro's voice brought Rangiku's thoughts back to reality, 'Captains, Lieutenants, and any Seated Offices can come,'

'So I'm allowed to accompany you?' she was hopeful, 'Please?'

'Fine,' Toshiro was a bit tired, considering that Rukia had only let him out of that hidden room earlier in the day, when it was still dark, and when normal people had been asleep for a long time, 'Just don't cause any commotions,'

'Oh, of course I won't!' Rangiku was too excited to really listen to what her captain was saying. And, as an added bonus, a gathering like this was exactly what she needed to carry out her observations. She found herself wondering how Izuru was, because she had a faint recollection of sticking him inside a snowball the night before.

'It says to come whenever,' Toshiro wondered if Hinamori had written these, and decided that, if she had, he'd have to tell her to be a little bit more detailed.

'Then,' Matsumoto drew out the word, already buzzing with excitement, 'Let's go!'

'Don't shout,' grumbling, the white haired captain followed his Lieutenant out of the room.


There was quite a gathering at the Fifth Division, and Momo was getting worried. In all the excitement of the night before, she hadn't really thought about the consequences of hosting a party for so many people. It was a lot harder that Matsumoto had made it sound.

'Shiro-chan!' when the Lieutenant noticed Toshiro walking past, she called out immediately.

'Don't call me Shiro-chan,' the tone was cross, but the expression wasn't mirrored in his turquoise eyes, 'What is it?'

'I'm stuck,' Momo raised her hands and waved them around as if that explained everything.

'You don't look stuck,' peering at the ground and noting that her waraji were definitely on it, not in it, Toshiro frowned at her.

'Don't joke with me! I'm serious,' she was getting stressed, and her hand waving was getting more and more erratic, 'I need help,'

'How so?' crossing his arms, the white haired captain stared at his childhood friend, waiting for her reply.

'I don't know! Your Lieutenant was the one who told me about parties anyway!' she was about to go mad, she could feel it. Why couldn't Shiro-chan just make things a bit easier for her?

'Matsumoto,' as the woman appeared at his side, Toshiro turned to her, 'Help Hinamori with her party, alright,'

It was an order, not really a question, so Rangiku nodded, 'Sure, let's go!'

As the pair walked off, Matsumoto animatedly explaining the workings of parties and Momo hanging onto her every word, Toshiro sighed.

'Shiro-chan!' at the shout, the white haired captain jerked violently and spun, eyes landing on Ukitake, 'How nice it is to see you again,'

'What do you want?' it was quite rude to speak to the older captain like that, but Toshiro was usually on edge when the man was around so he really couldn't help it.

'Last night, I found this,' Jushiro seemed awfully happy, 'And I thought I'd give it to y-,'

Before the captain of the Thirteenth Division could finish his sentence, Toshiro turned and bolted in the opposite direction, trying to hide his reiatsu and, if possible, his hair. There was no way Ukitake was going to force another one of his strange gifts on him, he couldn't take the way that man treated him sometimes.

'Captain!'

So I ran straight into more trouble, Toshiro slowed to a walk and waited for Matsumoto to appear. She seemed happy, as usual, and, since Hinamori was nowhere to be seen, the captain assumed they'd worked something out in that brief amount of time.

'Have you seen Izuru?' Rangiku leaned towards the leader of her Division and smiled, 'I wanted to talk to him,'

'He's over there,' Toshiro pointed behind him, having seen Kira standing against a wall, 'But he doesn't look very happy,'

He was going to say more, but his Lieutenant had grabbed his arm and begun dragging him none too gently in the direction he'd indicated, 'Matsumoto!'

'Come on, Captain,' she was grinning and ignoring him completely, 'I can't let you wander off! If I take my eyes off you for a moment, you're vanish back to the offices, won't you?'

Toshiro wasn't given the opportunity to respond, as Matsumoto had roughly dumped him on the ground, thumping his back as she did so, and knocked the wind out of his lungs, 'Matsumoto,' the word came out as an angry gasp.

'Izuru!' drowning out her captain's ragged breaths, Rangiku spun around and grasped the other Lieutenant's shoulders, shaking him, 'Why! You look absolutely awful,'

The blonde man looked like he hadn't slept in years, and his fingers were wrapped in bandages, when he spoke, his voice was crackly, 'Thanks to you,'

'What did I do? How can you dare to hold me responsible?' she was snapping now, earlier cheer gone.

'Because you stuck me in a snowball,' he was shaking now, the cool morning air obviously affecting him.

'Take this,' a new voice sounded and everyone turned their heads and watched Kanashimi approach. She was holding out her hand and something that looked like a small, smooth black pebble was caught between two of her fingers.

Izuru took the black thing and stared at it, then he asked, 'What is it?'

'Something to make you feel better,' she handed him a cup of water, 'Swallow,'

Putting the 'pebble' in his mouth and taking a great gulp of the water, shivering as the cold liquid hit his throat, Izuru sighed. Matsumoto and Toshiro watched in surprise as his skin regained its usual colour and his muscles relaxed. Then he pulled of his bandages and stared at his fingers, now back in all their usual glory.

'Better,' it was hardly a question. Lavender eyes watched Kira's face as Yuki took back the water, handing it to someone behind her.

'Very much so,' nodding in relief, Izuru now looked about a hundred times better, 'Thank you, Captain,'

Matsumoto watched as Kanashimi nodded slightly before moving to lean against the wall too, strangely coloured eyes on the weak beams of sunlight filtering from the clouds. The Lieutenant was trying to figure a few things out, but so far she hadn't been able to come to any conclusions.

'So,' Rangiku frowned ever so slightly, 'Izuru, you said I put you in a snowball?'

'That's right,' he sighed and it was one of long suffering, 'Although I wish you hadn't,'

'Let's go do something fun! I'll make it up to you!' before he could protest, the other Lieutenant had grabbed his hand and dragged him off.

Once they were out of the two captains' sight, Matsumoto said, 'Okay, what do you want to do?'

'Nothing that involves you,' after being very traumatised by the woman the night before, Izuru needed a little break from her. And so, this time before Matsumoto could react, Kira had used some of the fastest shunpo he'd ever performed, to race away.

Sighing deeply, Rangiku wandered slowly back to where her captain was, stopping some metres away, and just watched.


Pale blue eyes flicked from Hitsugaya to Kanashimi and Rangiku noted everything she could see. As she was just a bit too far away to hear what the pair were saying, and going any closer would make them overly aware of her presence, the Lieutenant just remained where she was. She could have tried lip reading, but that was just way too hard. After all, the last time she'd tried, she'd gotten quite a few people in trouble for things they didn't actually say.

I think, her thoughts were surprisingly calm and considering, What I heard last night, the memory of that open laughter filtered into her mind, Was laughter between . . . conspirators.

The woman nodded to herself, eyes half closed, Definitely conspirators. Why? since there was only her, she asked herself the question, and was then all too pleased to answer, Because conspirators are close, closer then friends, sometimes closer than family. A true single unit, she smiled, Well, they'd have to be to pull off whatever they were plotting.

Eyes focusing on the two captains again, Rangiku puller herself back on course and continued her internal monologue, This doesn't seem to me like some fresh youthful romance that's destined to crash and burn, she'd seen that happen far too often for her liking, And it's not the type of love where the relationship is really only for physical benefit, she'd seen that occur way too much as well.

'Sorry,' realising she had stepped backwards and bumped into someone, she didn't bother checking who it was, Matsumoto sighed and apologised.

So what's with those two? They're certainly not just friends who tell each other the odd secret and then walk off, but they're also definitely not just lovesick youngsters who can only think about, well, the woman couldn't help the wicked grin that flashed across her face, Think about touching each other all day long.

The Lieutenant had known Hitsugaya for a long time now, since back when he was in Junrinan, but there were still many times when she didn't have a clue what he was thinking or what was bothering him. It was a problem for her now, because she was curious.

Looking up, Rangiku watched as Kanashimi said something and then, eyes flicking to her captain, a small smile appeared on his face. He even appeared to be trying not to laugh, although Kanashimi's expression was still stoic.

That type of togetherness, that perfect timing, living to each other's rhythms, Rangiku's smile was fond, That's not just foolish young love. It really isn't, she brushed back her strawberry blonde hair absently, It's something so much more intense, so much closer to the heart.

Realising that she was practically beginning to repeat herself, the woman chuckled lightly, You're going mad, you know? Talking to yourself like this. Still, you're also acting like some old lady fussing over her kids, and you don't want to be like that. Old, I mean. So, leave them to their own devices and see what the outcome is, for some reason, she felt a bit sad, You know that they're both mature people.

As she turned to go back to the Tenth Division, movement caught her eye and she paused. Rangiku watched as Kanashimi stood. Then, as the Third Division captain passed Hitsugaya, there was the slightest contact before she vanished using shunpo.

Matsumoto smiled again. There wasn't anything extremely obvious about the incident, but somehow it carried more meaning that some of the most heated kisses the Lieutenant had ever witnessed.


Author's Note:

Just a couple of things shown from Rangiku's perspective . . . she does have a serious side after all, although it's usually hidden very, very well . . .