Rangiku got back to find her captain still hard at work.
She scratched her head. "Sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to just rush out of here, but it was about Rukia."
Toshiro nodded. "It's alright. I knew it had to be important. I take it you got some good news?"
She grinned. "Yup! She's awake and Isane said that there was no permanent damage to her brain or anything like that. Rukia should be getting out in a couple of days. And it's all thanks to you, Captain!" She came up behind him and pulled him into a bear hug.
His face turned red and the vein in his forehead began to throb. "Matsumoto, put me down!" he demanded.
She laughed and did as she was told. "Sorry, sorry! But in all seriousness, you really did save her life. Thank you, Captain. I was too scared to do anything to help Rukia-chan. If you hadn't been there-"
"You would have done the same," he stated.
She shook her head. "Maybe, but I would have been too panicked to act as fast as you did. I can't think of anyone who would have stayed so calm and gotten Rukia to the Fourth as fast as you did."
"I did what anyone else would have done."
Rangiku groaned. "Stop being so humble, Captain. You really did save her life! Rukia said so herself."
He looked up at his lieutenant for a moment. Then, "Can you finish looking through these files for me?" he said, changing the subject. "I wrote what I thought would be the best decision for each recruit. I need you to tell me if you agree or what you think would be a better option."
She smiled and took the files.
"And when you're done with that, we need to look at all the vacant seats. We need to figure out which officers should be promoted, demoted, and which of these recruits we should keep in mind for a seated position. After that, we need to decide who we should ask to help with the interviews. We also need to come up with what questions we'll ask during the interviews as well as what answers will be acceptable-"
Toshiro stopped rambling once he saw his poor lieutenant's face. She was obviously becoming overwhelmed.
He smiled. "Well, we can start with finishing up our final decisions for the trainees. And I know you really want to be with your friend right now. So if we get enough done today without distractions, I'll let you leave a little early."
Rangiku was beaming. She shrieked before hugging her captain again. "Thank you so much, Captain!"
He pried himself away from her. "Just get to work before I change my mind."
As soon as they finished their work, Rangiku bolted out of the office and made her way to the Fourth Division. She was smiling so hard that it almost hurt.
As she was skipping down the path that led to the Fourth, she couldn't help but notice a strong presence not far from her. She was curious, so she strayed off the path, and followed the strong spiritual pressure. She was surprised to find Momo there. Her zanpakuto, in shikai form, was in her hand. The other hand was about to fire a giant Shakkaho spell.
Rangiku was intrigued. She stayed back and watched her friend. Momo was jumping through the air, firing one giant Shakkaho spell after the other. Rangiku had forgotten that her friend was the Lieutenant of the Fifth Division, the division that specialized in kido.
She watched Momo Shunpo in a circle around a tree, firing three huge Shakkaho spells that made their way to the middle. She then twisted high into the air and swung a fiery attack from her zanpakuto. The three kido spells and the attack from her zanpakuto hit the tree simultaneously and made it burn to the ground. Rangiku's mouth fell to the ground; once the smoke had cleared, there was nothing but ashes left.
Rangiku finally stepped forward and started to applaud her friend. "How scary!" she marveled.
Momo blushed. "Rangiku? When did you get here?"
"Not long ago. I was so fascinated by your attack there. That could do some serious damage to someone. What's it called?"
"I don't have a name for it yet. I was thinking something like 'Snapping Dragon.' But I'm still not sure."
"Wow! How cool! Did you come up with it?"
Momo frowned. "No. Captain Aizen came up with it, and he spent months helping me perfect it."
"Momo!" Rangiku hissed.
"I'm sorry, Rangiku! It's just a habit! I'll get rid of it!"
She sighed. "Be sure that you do. You should have seen Captain after you went to talk to him. He was pissed. I'm sure others would react the same, maybe even worse."
Rangiku almost began to feel bad for snapping at her friend once she saw Momo's sad face.
"Man!" she breathed out. "I guess I should take it easy on you; I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes. I could never imagine losing my captain like that."
Momo looked up at Rangiku. "You were close with Gin, weren't you? Don't you miss him?"
Momo didn't miss the pain that crossed the older woman's face at the mention of her old friend. "How do I answer that?" she said to herself. "Well, you could say that Gin and I were close friends. It's true that he saved me when I was a kid. We grew up together. We even went to the Academy together. And at one time, I did believe that I was in love with him. Maybe I still am. But my feelings for him don't change what he did. He and Aizen plotted against the Soul Society, the place we call home, the place countless of shinigami have given their lives to protect. So, yes, Gin and I were close. And, yes, I do miss him. But I will never forgive him for what he's done. Hurting me is one thing, something that, with time, I could forgive. Hurting and killing others is another."
Momo was deep in thought. Her friend's words were like a breath of fresh air. "Rangiku, you're so wise! It hurts me so much to think about my captain's actions, and I don't think that that will change any time soon. But no one knew him like I did, so no one understands what it is that I'm going through. But it's time I move on. Thank you so much for your insight. I think I'm starting to understand."
Rangiku smiled. "I'm glad I could help you out! Well then, I'll be on my way! I'm going to go see Rukia-chan! She's finally awake! See ya!"
Rangiku was sprinting down the halls, making her way to Rukia's room. "Rukia-chan!" she howled. "I'm here!" She eagerly burst through the door. Her eye twitched at what she was seeing.
Rukia was sitting in bed, trainee files scattered around her. She was currently focusing intently on a file she was reviewing. Ukitake was sitting in a chair next to her, also looking through files. But his two third seats were lumped in the corner of the room, asleep.
Her eye twitch again. "Would somebody please explain to me" - the two reviewing the files turned to look at her - "WHY THE HELL RUKIA-CHAN IS WORKING WHEN SHE SHOULD BE RESTING?"
She marched to the corner where the two third seats were drooling and grabbed them by their ears. She yanked them up, ignoring their cries for mercy.
"You two! You lazy Third Seats!" she yelled. "How is it that you two are knocked out in the corner while Rukia-chan is reviewing trainee files that you two should be reviewing?" She launched them out the door. She then marched towards Rukia. She ripped the files out of the shocked girl's hands and gathered the rest of the files that were scattered on the bed. She went back to the quivering third seats and threw the papers at them. "Don't come back until you finish looking through all of these!"
They raised a finger. "But we-"
Rangiku stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around to look at them, her eye twitching like there was no tomorrow. "What was that?" she threatened.
They quickly gathered the papers. "Nothing, ma'am!" they yelped as they ran away.
Rangiku slammed the door shut. She turned to face a frightened Rukia. Captain Ukitake was no different.
"Rukia-chan!" she beamed. "I came to see you!"
"A-Ah," she stuttered. "I see that."
"Yup, I spent the day preparing for the Evaluations. I'm exhausted! But Captain let me leave early to come see you!"
"That was awfully nice of Shiro-chan," Ukitake chimed in. "He must be in an incredibly good mood."
"Well, that's my captain for you! Always so selfless and understanding!" Rangiku's eye began to twitch again. "Unlike a captain who would make his subordinate, who just woke from a coma, do his work."
The eerie feeling from before returned. Ukitake felt as though he couldn't breath with Rangiku's death glare beating down upon him.
"S-Say, would you look at the time. It's getting so late! I should finish all the work I have left and get to bed!"
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, Captain Ukitake," Rangiku said as she continued to glare at him. "You should stop by my Captain's office. I think there are one or two trainees he thinks would be better suited for your division."
"I will be sure to do that! Good day, Lieutenant Matsumoto! S-See you later, Rukia!"
"Man, Rangiku! You sure are scary!"
"Huh?" She turned to find Renji sitting at the foot of Rukia's bed. "Renji? When did you get here?"
"What do you mean?" he yelled. "I've been here this whole time, you crazy bat!"
Rangiku turned to Rukia, who simply nodded her head.
"Oh...Anyway, Rukia-chan how are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling great! All though, I don't like that I'm missing out on the Evaluations. I had promised Captain Ukitake I would be there to help."
Rangiku ruffled the young girl's hair. "It can't be helped. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Captain Ukitake understands."
Rukia frowned. "He does, but I'm still disappointed. I was really looking forward to being able to help Ukitake evaluate the future members of our division. I was so shocked when he had asked for my help. Usually, only seated officers get to participate in evaluating."
"Rukia, you practically run Division 13! Poor Ukitake is always on sick leave. And lord knows those damn third seats of his don't do much in his absence. I'm surprised your division is still standing."
Rukia laughed. "You may have a point. I know it looks like they don't do much, but when you truly need them, Kiyone and Sentaro don't hesitate to step up. So don't be too hard on them."
A sigh. "I know, I know! It just makes me so mad that you aren't a seated officer. You take on the workload of one and you're more than qualified."
"Hasn't Ukitake mentioned promoting you at all?" Renji asked.
"He has mentioned it a few times. But I'm not ready! There's no way I'd be good enough to be a seated officer!"
Rangiku frowned. "Rukia-chan!" she scolded. "Don't say that! You are incredibly talented. Your kido skills are great, and your skills with a zanpakuto are even better. Not to mention your zanpakuto has been named the most beautiful of all zanpakutos. You think a zanpakuto with that kind of title would choose just anyone to be its master? You're definitely qualified to be a seated officer. And if you keep training, I'd say, in a couple of years, you'd be more than qualified to be a lieutenant, like Renji and I. Aw, just imagine it!" she squeaked. "The three of us would look so cool!"
"Your words make me so happy, Rangiku. But I still have a long way to go if I want to be a seated officer."
Rangiku pouted. "You're so stubborn, Rukia-chan!"
"She always has been," Renji laughed. "You should have seen her when we were kids. She was the leader of the group because everyone was too scared to oppose her."
Rangiku burst out laughing. "I could never imagine that! Little Rukia-chan being so scary that a bunch of kids were terrified of her! Impossible!"
"Well, believe it! In all our years spent in Rukongai, not once did anyone dare challenge her authority. After she knocked out some guy twice her size with her bare hands, everyone knew better."
"No way! I don't believe you!" Rangiku laughed.
Rukia crossed her arms. Her cheeks were pink. "I was not that scary, Renji! And our friends weren't scared of me! They were just smart enough to know that following you would get us all killed!"
Rangiku was rolling on the floor now. "She's got you there, Renji!" she bellowed. "You two would probably be dead if you had let Renji be leader!"
Rukia and Rangiku were now both laughing. They were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe.
"Come on!" Renji grumbled.
The two continued to laugh.
Renji couldn't stay mad. His heart warmed at the sight of Rukia's face. Her cheeks were pink and there were small tears coming from her eyes from laughing so hard. What he would give to see her like this all the time.
He soon joined them in their wild laughter. The three stayed that way for quite a while.
Once they had calmed down, Rukia took a moment to appreciate her friends. No matter the situation, they always could make her laugh as if everything was all right. It was refreshing. It was something she needed because, in moments like those, all of her anxieties were pushed to the back of her mind. Her fears became just a little less scary and her problems just a little less intimidating.
Moments like those reminded her that, no matter what was going on, she could make it through whatever life threw at her.
Unbeknown to the three shinigami, a cloaked woman stood in a tree not far from the window of Rukia's room.
The figure smirked sinisterly. "Laugh all you can now, Kuchiki. Who knows how much longer you'll be able to."
Without another word, the woman disappeared, not even a trace of her reiatsu left behind.
