A/N: I'd like to thank those who left me reviews already. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story already. Hope you enjoy this latest chapter as well.

Papercuts and the Sunflower - Second Story: Dawn

Chapter Two: Special

Today wasn't a normal day as always. At least, that was what Matsumoto was proclaiming all morning. Hitsugaya, however, couldn't figure out what was the big deal. Both were walking through the courtyard after returning from Division Headquarters.

"It was a 'special' gathering alright." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, shifting his arms slightly under the weight of the wrapped boxes he held. Yes, today was Hitsugaya-taichou's birthday. He was still the youngest taichou in the Gotei 13, but nonetheless he was still one year older.

"Oh come on taichou," Matsumoto started, looking down at the still growing young man. "I knew you were surprised. The look on your face was priceless!" She giggled while raising a hand to her mouth.

"Tch," Hitsugaya grunted as he closed his eyes slightly. "And you knew all about it didn't you? Well then who planned it all?"

"Of course I knew about it," Matsumoto replied while still giggling. "And why do you want to know who planned the party?"

"Just so I can thank them properly with a few more words."

"Hmmm." She raised a finger to her cheek. "Well I do know. But I'm not going to tell you."

"It was you wasn't it?" Hitsugaya insisted with his tone.

"Maybe." Matsumoto smiled as she stretched out the word. "Maybe not."

Hitsugaya paused for a moment to glare at her, but closed his eyes as quickly as he had stopped and continued walking. "You women are so damn evil."

"That may be true to some extent taichou." Matsumoto teased while patting him on the shoulder. Within the distance of the center of the courtyard, Matsumoto spotted a bench nestled cozily under the branches of a large tree. "Ne, taichou?"

"What is it Matsumoto?" He looked at her with careful eyes at the sound of her soothing tone.

"Want to sit with me under that tree over there?" She pointed. "I'd really like to rest my feet for a while."

'That's the reason…' Hitsugaya thought to himself as he shifted his eyes from her to the bench. He shook off another oncoming thought and made his way towards the bench. "Fine, fine. Whatever."

Matsumoto smiled as she skipped past him and plopped herself comfortably into the seat. She watched as Hitsugaya shrugged himself over and placed his gifts at his feet as he sat. Silence then fell between the two. A cool breeze blew throughout the area, causing them both to narrow their eyes. Hitsugaya leaned back as he glanced over at the blonde beside him and what he saw had him momentarily stunned.

He could only blink as he watched Matsumoto lean back against the bench. She ran the back of her hand against her forehead, sticking out her large chest as she sighed. His eyes then ran along her body and down to her legs which she crossed in the most painfully slow manner he'd ever seen. As she fluffed her hair about her eyes found his and she tilted her head in apparent confusion. "Why are you looking at me like that taichou?" She smiled teasingly at him.

Hitsugaya was jolted out of his dazed state, turning his head away to hide his slightly flushed cheeks. "No reason…" He said softly, looking down at the gifts at his feet. "I was just thinking about something…"

Matsumoto leaned close to his ears as she pushed back her hair behind her own as she whispered. "About how beautiful you think I am?"

"Yeah…" He whispered without realizing exactly what she had said. "W-What? No you idiot! That's not it!" He hurriedly tried to recover as he moved away from her.

"Taichou is blushing!" She practically squealed as she slid herself over to him. "I've never seen you look so cute!"

"Get away from me you crazy woman!" Hitsugaya began to feel his paranoia slowly creep its way into his body as she pressed up against him. He swallowed hard at the feel of her breasts pressing against his arm. He was about to protest in his usual manner before his mind went almost completely blank when she cupped his cheek. She moved his head slowly toward hers, ever so gently shifting her slender fingers across his skin.

"Taichou…" He heard her whisper. The only other sound he could hear was his heart thumping loudly as his green eyes locked onto her blue ones. "Tell me what you want."

His eyes widened at her words, causing his breath to escape him prematurely. He tried to pull away so that she wouldn't feel the shiver that was starting to run throughout his body but was stopped as she spread her fingers more across his face.

"No. Look at me…" Her voice was still blissfully gentle. "Tell me what you want from me."

"Matsumoto…" He forced out of his now partially dry throat. He could slowly feel himself starting to lean more towards her, but stopped himself as tried to gather himself mentally. "Just stop this." Carefully, he removed her hand from his cheek and slid away from her closeness to him. "I'm leaving."

He pushed himself off of the bench and was about to grab his things before he felt Matsumoto's hand wrap around his wrist. "Wait taichou."

"What is it now?" Hitsugaya said with low voice, closing his eyes at her touch. "If it's more teasing then don't even think about. Just because I'm young and this size doesn't give you or the other women the license to try to embarrass me."

"No, no taichou." She said as she shook her head. "That's not it. I only asked because I really wanted to know what you wanted for your birthday because…" She paused as she reached into her clothing and removed beautifully wrapped package, holding it out at him. "I had already gotten you something and didn't want to disappoint you. So…happy birthday taichou."

Hitsugaya was silenced as he looked at the gift in her hands. He reached out and picked it up, realizing how small in size it was. He looked up at Matsumoto who smiled warmly at him as she motioned for him to open it.

Without delay he ripped the paper off and opened the small box. He looked up at Matsumoto, particularly focusing on her neck and then returned his vision down at the box. "This is…?"

"That's right." She held up her necklace. "I got one identical to mine just for you."

He blinked as he removed the necklace from the box. "But I thought…"

"Yes." She answered before he could finish. "These are the only two of their kind."

"But why did you give it to me?" He questioned.

"Well," she looked away and chuckled slightly. "It's to show my loyalty to my taichou."

"Oh…" He replied, throwing the now empty box on top of the others.

"Come here," Matsumoto motioned to him. When he didn't move she tugged him over and spun him around so that his back was facing her. She carefully extracted the necklace from his hands, using a free hand to rest on his shoulder and pulled him between her legs. She felt him wanting to move forward but pressed her knees together in an effort to halt him. "Just relax taichou…"

She ran her fingers along the back of his neck to remove some of his silver hair out of her way, grinning at the slight shiver that rippled throughout his body. Leaning forward, she draped her arms around his neck and pulled the necklace up around to the back. Her grin widened as she leaned forward a bit more and pressed her chest against his back. She could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest as if it were about to leap out of his body. Feeling his muscles tense she slowly wrapped the necklace around the back of his neck and hooked it, taking a few more seconds to ensure that it was properly secured.

"There we go." She said, placing her chin atop of his shoulder and leaned her head against his. "Now we're matching taichou."

Although she hesitantly did so, she allowed him to wriggle free of her grasp and heard him clear his throat weakly. "Thanks…" He barely whispered as he turned slightly to look at her. He brought a hand up to his shoulder and spun his neck around once to stretch it free of kinks. "We'd best return to the office now…I think."

"That's fine with me but," Matsumoto started as she slowly stood to her feet. "Do you really feel like working on such a special day?"

"Don't worry about it," he said, feeling himself starting to calm down. "I think I'll live." He bent down to gather the rest of his presents, all unopened, and waited for Matsumoto to stand at his side.

They began their walk towards the 10th Division office, deliberately paced at what seemed to be a crawling speed. Matsumoto peeked over her shoulder at Hitsugaya as a thought crossed her mind. As they turned a corner she paused in her steps. "Taichou…"

Hitsugaya turned to face her. "Hmmm?"

"Earlier…" She forced herself to hold back the rising grin. "Did you think I was going to…kiss you?"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened and he nearly dropped all of the gifts he had in his arms. "B-Baka!" He turned his face away to yet again hide his blush. "Of course not!"

"You don't have to deny it taichou." She finally allowed the grin grow wide on her lips. "I won't mind. You're still growing after all."

"I refuse to stand here and listen to this." He turned to walk away from her. "I'm leaving."

Matsumoto quickly caught up to him and leaned over slightly in an effort to look into his eyes. "You thought it would make this day even more special didn't you?" She teased as she pinched his cheeks, causing him to pull away as he reached out for the handle of the office door and slid it open.

"That's enough Matsumoto." He tried his best to sound as serious as he normally was but realized it wasn't going to fool her.

Matsumoto laughed at the expression on his face and walked into the room first. "Okay, okay. I'll stop." She quickly made her way over to the office couch and eased her body onto the cushions, smiling as she watched him close the door and rest his gifts down in a corner. "For now."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes as he walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains, allowing the sunlight to spill into the room. 'You don't have to do anything more…Rangiku.' He said to himself as he closed his eyes. A yawn filled the air as he heard Matsumoto's body slump further down into the couch, not at all surprised. He smirked and opened his eyes, staring up at the now afternoon sun as he lifted his hands to wrap around his new necklace. 'You've already done enough to make this day more special than I could've ever imagined…'