Chapter 9: The new lieutenants are inaugurated and Rukia gifts her scarf
But as she stepped toward the gate, black hell butterfly fluttering around her head, he wanted to catch the little hand that had come to fit so comfortably in his hold, and keep her there.
The next week went better than Rukia expected it to. Despite telling him not to, Hitsugaya still showed up at Ukitake's office the next morning. The elder captain took one look at the two of them standing outside his office, Rukia lightly scolding Hitsugaya for coming and Hitsugaya looking like he did not regret it at all, and quickly put two and two together.
He didn't tell Rukia I told you so, but he came very close, congratulating the new couple and allowing Hitsugaya to take Rukia back to the Tenth Division for Kurotsuchi's report.
Like Hitsugaya had predicted, Matsumoto was there waiting for them, bright eyed and bushy-tailed. Somewhere between the Thirteenth and Tenth Divisions, Hitsugaya had taken Rukia's hand. Matsumoto's eyes immediately dropped to this when they came through the door, and her smiling face became teasing, but with a touch of softness.
Despite their expectations, Matsumoto didn't seem that interested in teasing them, and instead pulled Rukia onto the sofa with her to learn about what had happened on their date the night before, which the girl rather bashfully recounted, but with a slightly more innocent version.
Rangiku Matsumoto wasn't so easily fooled, but before she could prod the blushing girl further, Nemu showed up with Kurotsuchi's report.
Taking his time to read through it, Captain Hitsugaya let them know what the Twelfth Division's captain's conclusions were:
The ability of Hitsugaya and Rukia to enter each other's inner world was not, in fact, a freak accident brought on by Kurotsuchi's suppressant. It was actually due to the fact that their reiatsu happened to be almost eighty-nine percent compatible, the highest similarity on record in Seireitei, and the suppressant had merely been a vessel that provided a link between them. It went without saying that this was rather rare. Hitsugaya recalled that a similar test had been done on him and Kusaka and it hadn't been this high. Kurotsuchi had concluded that, while the composition, level, and signatures of their reiatsu were markedly different, it was basically made of the same stuff. Kurotsuchi went on to speculate that the mixing of their inner worlds had something to do with the origin of their zanpakuto spirits' power, which was an area that required more research and he looked forward to experimenting with this more, if they would be so kind. As for the fact that their zanpakuto's did not appear with them when they visited the other's mind, Kurotsuchi merely informed them that, similar to two Shinigami not being allowed to possess the same zanpakuto spirit, two zanpakuto spirits could not exist within the same mind. It was as simple as that.
There was no real danger to this connection between them but likewise, there was no real benefit either, except for the production of offspring, which were more likely to be born with high spiritual pressure and similar powers. Kurotsuchi therefore recommended that, for the benefit of Soul Society and for the sake of science, they should have as many offspring as possible.
With this somewhat presumptuous conclusion (and Matsumoto's very cheerful suggestions that she would leave them be if they wanted to get a start on it), Hitsugaya closed the report and concurred with Rukia that they were both satisfied with this explanation.
Renji figured things out before Rukia had the opportunity to tell him. Rukia met him for lunch once and he only needed to look at her for a few moments before he flatly, but sincerely, congratulated her. Rukia began to wonder if there was some sort of sign taped to her back announcing it or something. According to Renji, there was—it was how happy she obviously was.
Rukia figured between Hitsugaya and becoming a lieutenant, she was happier than she had been in a while.
Matsumoto had taken it upon herself to tell Momo, which Hitsugaya warned Rukia was more likely for gossip than anything else, so by the time the lieutenant inauguration came around, the only other important person left to tell was Byakuya.
Her Nii-sama probably wouldn't be too pleased to be the last to know but, even though she had promised Hitsugaya she would soften her brother up beforehand, Byakuya had been oddly absent recently. Even Renji couldn't tell her much other than that his captain had been meeting with the Head Captain.
All this to say, on the day of the inauguration, Rukia found she would have to stand in the same room with both Hitsugaya and Byakuya, and she was almost positive her face would give it away somehow.
Before the ceremony, the new lieutenants were presented with their armbands. Kaien's armband had been returned to his family after his death so Rukia was presented with a new one, as was Kuna, since Hisagi was still wearing the original. Momo received her old one, which had been unceremoniously stripped from her more than a year before.
Noticing the other girl's teary eyes, Rukia put a hand on her shoulder, wanting to comfort her, at least until Momo casually called her sister-in-law, much to the confusion of Kuna.
So Rukia's cheeks were rather red as she walked between the other captains and lieutenants to take her place behind Ukitake. The odd numbered divisions stood opposite the even numbered ones and Byakuya and Hitsugaya were separated by only Kyoraku, so Rukia had a clear view of both of them.
Her brother gave her a reassuring nod and then looked away, obviously bored now that Rukia had completed her part. Hitsugaya's eyes found hers and stayed, his face melting into the barest smile. Somewhere down the line, Hirako made a sound that was clearly a snicker poorly covered by a cough.
Head Captain Yamamoto gave a droning speech that was blessedly short and then it was all over. A few captains lingered around, giving their congratulations to the new lieutenants. Rukia was falling into a comfortable conversation with Kyoraku and Nanao when, from the corner of her eyes, she detected Hitsugaya and Byakuya together.
A weird kind of feeling settled into her stomach. It wasn't fear, but rather a kind of anxiousness. On the one hand, she had wanted to personally make Byakuya aware of her and Hitsugaya's relationship because she felt that Byakuya deserved to hear it from her and not someone else. On the other hand, even though she didn't really mind Hitsugaya breaking the news to her brother, she didn't want Hitsugaya to bear the brunt of whatever Byakuya's reaction was going to be.
Before she could excuse herself and hurry over there, they both left the room. Rukia deflated with relief but also petulance. The two most important men in her life hadn't even hung around to talk to her.
Eventually, Yamamoto banged his cane on the ground a few times to persuade his officers, whom he claimed were avoiding their work now, to leave.
This apparently only applied to the remaining captains, for no sooner had Yamamoto made this order when Nanao, receiving some kind of secret signal from Matsumoto, put a respectful but firm hand on Rukia's shoulder and began to nudge her in a particular direction.
Kyoraku made some comment about being left out, which Nanao ignored.
"Lieutenant Ise?" Rukia inquired. The other lieutenants were also herding the new lieutenants down a corridor.
"You'll see," was all Nanao replied.
Rukia exchanged a confused look with Kuna but Momo looked amused and resigned.
They were led to a room that had been lazily decorated. All the celebratory effort had been clearly focused on the table of sake and other alcohol and food piled up in one corner. It was a wide room, similar to the one they had just left, with a long conference table and some sofas for lounging around. Painted on the walls behind each chair at the table were the flower symbols of each division.
All the lieutenants were there. Rukia didn't think she had ever seen thirteen lieutenants in one room before. Even when they had had lieutenants meetings before, this wouldn't have been possible with the Thirteenth Lieutenant's seat vacant. Occasionally, Sentaro or Kiyone would attend those meetings but only if they were important and even then they weren't allowed to wear the armband or hang around for long.
Some lieutenants made a beeline for the alcohol while some took their respective seats.
"You're there," Nanao said to her, pointing at the chair that belonged to the Thirteenth Division. They did not seem to be arranged in any logical order and only had the division's symbol to guide them. Later, Rukia would learn that this was because, long ago when they had first designated this room as the Lieutenant's Lounge, the then lieutenants had wanted to sit near the other lieutenants that they liked, and since no one appeared to care much about the order, it had remained that way.
Rukia somewhat self-consciously took her seat, right between Nemu and Yachiru, the former of which was sitting demurely and the latter of which was hanging over Omaeda's head, secured by a fist in his hair, and loudly demanding that he give up the rice cake they were fighting over.
Matsumoto happened to be opposite Rukia and next to Momo. She did go for the alcohol, but only to secure a bottle before returning to her place at the table.
She clapped her hands loudly, drawing everyone's attention.
"Today, we welcome three people to our ranks," she loudly announced, in a theatrically exaggerated voice.
She put her hand on top of Momo's bun: "The persevering Hinamori Momo—"
There was a cheerful round of applause. Momo gave an abashed smile but seemed pleased nevertheless.
"The zesty Kuna Mashiro—" Matsumoto went on, tipping her bottle of sake to Kuna, who was furthest away from her. More applause. The Visored lieutenant preened with a toothy grin.
"And—" Rukia, who had been expecting it, still straightened her spine against the back of her chair. "—the lovely Kuchiki Rukia."
Rukia took her applause with some small bobs of her head, somewhat embarrassed that Matsumoto had described her as lovely.
"Today, you have been inducted into the Gotei Thirteen as lieutenants for your divisions," Matsumoto went on, her demeanour suddenly serious. "But to be accepted by us tenured lieutenants, there is one more thing you have to do. Lieutenant Kusajishi! The orders!"
Yachiru, who had stuffed her mouth with what looked like every type of food available, bounded into her seat next to Rukia.
"Here, Boobies," she said around her mouthful, sliding what looked like a very sticky piece of paper across the table.
Matsumoto took it with a face but still began to open it up. Beside her, Momo gave a long suffering sigh.
"Do I need to do this again?" she asked.
"That's a good question, Hinamori-fukutaicho," Isane mused from across the table. "After all, you have done it before."
"It's different every time," Renji said casually. "I think it's only fair to do it again. Is it good this year, Rangiku?"
Matsumoto looked over the piece of paper and gave a smile that made Rukia very uneasy.
But surprisingly, she didn't reply. Instead, she looked around the table and suggested, "Let's take a vote. Do we think Momo should do it again? I'll remind you it'll be one less person to share the sake with."
"Let Bun-chan do it!" Yachiru eagerly assented.
"Agreed," Hisagi quickly seconded.
A few more heads around the table nodded, clearly very willing to subject Momo to whatever was written on the paper if it meant more food and alcohol for themselves. Matsumoto quickly took a count and turned back to Momo.
"Looks like you're doing it again, Momo," she said, not the least bit sorry.
Momo just gave a resigned smile.
"What are the orders, Lieutenant Matsumoto?" Kira asked.
Dramatically, Matsumoto read off the piece of paper: "All new lieutenants must steal a captain's haori. The haori may belong to any captain other than their own. The haori cannot be burrowed, asked for, bargained with, or promised returned. It must be stolen. The lieutenant is not allowed to explain why they are stealing it, or give any explanation at all. It must be stolen before all the sake in the Lieutenant's Lounge is consumed. Extra bragging rights will be awarded to any lieutenants who manage to steal haoris belonging to the captains from Divisions Two, Four, Six, Ten, Eleven and Twelve. Any lieutenant who manages to steal the haori belonging to Head Captain Yamamoto will be given full domain over the sake retained for lieutenants' celebratory matters, provided that they return alive. Special rules are as follows: in addition to not being allowed to return with their own captain's haori, Lieutenant Hinamori will also not be allowed to return with the haori belonging to Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Kuchiki will not be allowed to return with the haori belonging to Captain Kuchiki, and Lieutenant Kuna will not be allowed to return with the haoris belonging to any of the Visored captains. Once the new lieutenants have completed this task, they will be fully recognized as lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen by the Lieutenant's Lounge."
Matsumoto put down the piece of paper with a broad smile. "All understood?"
Rukia looked around at her fellow lieutenants—Momo seemed to be in deep thought and Kuna was already ready to leave—and nodded.
Matsumoto popped the cap off her sake. "Off you go then!"
As the three lieutenants took off in a cloud of dust and shunpo, Matsumoto turned back to the others at the table. She lifted her bottle in a toast.
"Let's drink!"
On the list of fellow captains with whom Hitsugaya thought he had the least in common with, Captain Kuchiki was near the top. In the younger captain's mind, the only thing they could concur on was Rukia, and that development had been rather recent.
So he was a bit surprised when they crossed paths at the lieutenants' inauguration and both said, at the same time:
"Captain Hitsugaya, I would like to have a word—"
"Captain Kuchiki, if you have a moment to spare—"
A minute of silence had passed between them.
"My office is closer, we can continue this conversation there," Byakuya had eventually said.
At Byakuya's office, Hitsugaya waited for the other captain to speak.
"Speak first, Captain Hitsugaya, I assume what you want to discuss has something to do with my sister."
"Very astute," Hitsugaya said, somewhat dryly. He suddenly wondered why he hadn't waited for Rukia to begin this conversation with Captain Kuchiki.
"Rukia and I are dating," he said, without inflection.
To the untrained eye, Byakuya didn't appear to change much at this statement. But Hitsugaya had been watching his face clearly and saw the way the muscles in his face instantly went taut and how his dark eyes darkened some more.
"Members of the Kuchiki family do not date," Byakuya said coldly and with disdain. "Eligible members will court, and with the intention of marriage in mind." Byakuya's eyes clearly challenged Hitsugaya: "I do not know what your intentions with Rukia are, but if you do not plan to wed her, then we do not need to be having this conversation."
"It's too early to be talking about marriage," Hitsugaya said and, seeing the explicit anger erupt in the other's eyes, added: "But that doesn't mean I don't plan to."
Byakuya did not seem mollified by this.
"If you intend to court Rukia, it should be with the intention to marry her. I am not so stringent as to demand that it be rushed but my sister does not deserve to be with someone without at least that level of commitment to her."
Hitsugaya frowned. "I didn't decide to pursue Rukia with lukewarm commitment," he said calmly. "And I don't plan on separating from her either. If this leads to marriage one day then so be it. If it doesn't, then that will be between Rukia and I. I take it marriage is important to your noble lineage or whatever, but to me, it's a non-issue. Ultimately, it will be Rukia's decision."
Hitsugaya truly believed this. Marriage, to him, was just a bit of legality, and in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that important. He wasn't sure how Rukia felt about marriage, if she aspired to it, but Hitsugaya found that, either way, he would be fine with it. He would willingly put that decision in Rukia's hands because he understood that, in the end, she had a responsibility to her family, and in the give and take of relationships, he was not willing to make this an issue between them if it meant Rukia could be a little more at ease with the rest of the Kuchikis.
Byakuya seemed a little surprised at this, but Hitsugaya's consideration of Rukia seemed to have won him some points with the Sixth Division's captain.
"The Kuchiki family will not be pleased with this arrangement," Byakuya warned him, tone somewhat stern. "Or with you and your attitude to their established customs."
"How the Kuchiki family feels about me is not my concern," Hitsugaya said, as plainly as he could manage. "The only person's opinion who Rukia would care about is yours. So your opinion is the only one I will consider. And even then, I am willing to prove you wrong if I need to."
Byakuya held his gaze for a while. The two were at something like a standoff. Byakuya was looking at him with disapproval and condescension but Hitsugaya's entire being radiated stubbornness and challenge. One had to give first and it was Byakuya.
The elder captain leaned back in his chair with a sigh. His relaxed shoulders were the closest to slouched Hitsugaya had ever seen.
"Rukia has always done her best to adhere to the family rules," he said, voice a little tired.
Hitsugaya couldn't help the way his eyebrow rose at this but he listened to the other man quietly.
"Most of the rules are not worth fighting, and ultimately, they have their purposes. Despite this, I have always planned to have Rukia choose who she wishes to marry. If that is you, then—" though Byakuya looked more resigned than eager, his voice had a quality Hitsugaya chose to describe as willing acceptance, "—I will support her decision."
"Thank you," Hitsugaya replied, simply, but sincere and with maybe a bit of reverence. This man was the most important person in Rukia's life, and though marriage was still very much a distant thought and far off, one day, he might be Hitsugaya's brother-in-law.
"Of course, if you cause my sister any undue pain, I will be forced to recant my stance on this."
"Of course."
"And I will still be speaking to her on the matter."
"Looks like you're about to have that opportunity," Hitsugaya frowned, getting to his feet and turning with Byakuya to look at the office door. Not two seconds later did they swing open, revealing a rather harried and out of breath Rukia.
"Brother," she gasped out a greeting with an uncharacteristically sloppy bow. "And Captain Hitsugaya. My apologies."
"Rukia," Byakuya said, voice scolding, "What is the meaning of this?"
Rukia maintained her bow, upper body almost parallel to the floor. "I apologize for barging in, nii-sama, but I am on an urgent and time-sensitive assignment. Please allow me to complete it before I explain."
The two men looked at her, surprised. She had only been inaugurated as a lieutenant not even a half hour ago. What assignment could she possibly have?
"Very well," Byakuya nodded at her.
Rukia straightened up, met her brother's eyes and muttered, "Thank you." Then she swung around to face Hitsugaya, face set in sudden determination. She pointed a finger at him. "Don't move!" she ordered, her voice so authoritative that even Byakuya was rendered speechless. Before they could recover, Rukia closed the distance between her and Hitsugaya.
For a moment, Hitsugaya thought he was going to be kissed. He didn't have the time to think why or really question this thought or how he felt about it, but when he suddenly felt her hands on him, he thought maybe he had been right. It took a moment more for him to realize that Rukia's hands were moving very quickly and very specifically, and they didn't feel amorous in the slightest.
It should have been a little distressing how quickly and deftly she was able to pull his haori off of him, but it was all done in such a blur and short space of time that Rukia had given them a quick Sorry! and disappeared from the office before either Hitsugaya or Byakuya could blink.
A weird kind of silence was left in the room.
Hitsugaya stood, wearing only a shihakusho for the first time since he'd become a captain, and Byakuya sat, as stone faced as always but with a flavour or surprise and amusement, both staring at the door through which they hadn't even seen Rukia leave but had only heard the sound of the wood slamming closed.
The silence was broken by Hitsugaya's deadpan voice:
"Were you hazed as a lieutenant?"
"No, that tradition started with your lieutenant, I believe, years after I had left the position."
"I wonder if I will be seeing that haori again."
"Unlikely."
"Requesting a new one is such a pain."
"I'll get the paperwork."
By the time Rukia returned to the lounge, the alcohol hadn't yet completely disappeared, but it was close. Momo was already there, Captain Otoribashi's haori neatly folded before her on the table. She gave Rukia a knowing smile, eye easily catching the Tenth Division's symbol on the haori in her hands. Rukia flushed but stuck her tongue out at her, quickly folded the garment, and retook her place at the table.
Perhaps she should have expected it, but the other lieutenants were mostly drunk now, and some had left. Kira, Hisagi and Matsumoto were laid across the table in a pile from which snoring emerged. Yachiru had holed up under the table with the remainder of the food, and was in what appeared to be a food coma, round little belly upturned to the ceiling.
The only functioning lieutenant still around was Nanao, who came by to inspect the haoris.
"Good," she said to Momo. Her fingers pinched the material. "Still quite new isn't it? Less than a year. Not even a rip in it so far. This is an excellent find, Lieutenant Hinamori. How did you manage it?"
"Captain Otoribashi was playing his guitar," Momo explained. "I convinced him that he would look more like the singer he admired from his favourite band if he wore just his shihakusho. When he took it off, I stole it and came back here."
"Very clever," Nanao commented. "We appreciate your efforts."
The bespectacled lieutenant made her way over to Rukia. Reflexively, the little Shinigami wanted to shield the haori from her. She held her hands tightly in her lap to prevent herself from doing this.
"My, this is Captain Hitsugaya's haori," Nanao said, surprised. "How did manage to steal this, Lieutenant Kuchiki?"
Rukia's neck became a little warm. "I took it off of him," she said truthfully, ignoring the way Momo smirked from across the table.
"And he just let you?" Nanao sounded incredulous.
Rukia shrugged without answering.
"Well, I suppose I must award you extra bragging rights for this, according to Lieutenant Kusajishi's rules," Nanao allowed. "Though I'm not sure this is something you should go around bragging about. Very well. Well done, Lieutenant Kuchiki. Now, we just have to wait for Lieutenant Kuna." And she threw a somewhat worried look at the last bottle of sake that was sitting between Matsumoto's and Kira's hands. It was only a matter of time before one of them became roused enough to snatch it up.
However, a few minutes later, Kuna reappeared, clearly irritated and clutching Kyoraku's haori like she wanted to rip it in two.
"Here!" she tossed it unceremoniously onto the table in a heap, where Nanao silently picked it up and folded it neatly.
"That captain of yours has to be the most maddening person to have ever lived," Kuna said to Nanao. "And I used to live with Shinji!"
And really, Nanao couldn't deny this.
It would come out later that Kuna had believed she could easily steal the Eight Division's captain's haori because, at the time, he was sleeping soundly on the floor. But Captain Kyoraku wasn't so defenceless. He had waited until she had almost taken it off of him, along with his kimono, before he caught her, having been well aware of her presence all this time.
A short scuffle, some laughter and choice words later, Kyoraku had correctly guessed what was going on, which, technically, wasn't against the rules.
He had promised to gift it to her, if she wanted it so much, but she had to sit through a few rounds of tea with the man, who was clearly stretching the time out to keep her on edge until she just couldn't take it anymore. Knowing that she was cutting it close to time, Kuna had tossed her cup of tea away, startling Kyoraku enough that she was able to snatch the haori he had temptingly laid between them, and book it back to the lounge. Consequently, the haori was now stained with tea and rather crumpled.
Anyway, Nanao had been satisfied with the results and had promised she would vouch they had completed their task to the others when they were sober enough. As for what to do with the haoris, it was up to them—she would be returning Kyoraku's since Kuna wanted nothing more to do with it or the man.
Momo also promised to return hers, as thanks to Otoribashi for the help he had given her before.
Rukia felt compelled to return Hitsugaya's as well, though she had been rather hoping to keep it. You see, Hitsugaya had been wearing this haori since he had become a captain. It was worn out, with small tears and rips along the hem from fast-paced shunpo and ink stains and marks that could no longer be removed. It had lost all of its stiffness, washed so many times that it was now soft and pliable, like a comfortable blanket more than an outer coat.
More than this, it smelt like the captain. There was still some trace of the soap that had been used when it was washed but mostly it smelt like him, that familiar sent she had gotten used to when she sat in his office.
Up until she took it home and hung it up on the back of her door, she was still telling herself that she would return it.
But.
This haori was already so old, and Hitsugaya had recently outgrown it anyway, so it wouldn't hurt for him to get a new one, right? And with a new one, he wouldn't need this old one, right? So, it wouldn't matter if she kept it, right?
Rukia brushed the back of her hand against the hanging garment. There was still some of Hitsugaya's reiatsu in the weave, so it felt cool against her skin. It was probably still a long way off before she would have one of these of her own, and that would probably only happen if Ukitake retired, and she didn't really like that thought much.
Maybe…she wouldn't return it after all.
"Do thieves usually casually display their stolen goods like this?"
With a squeak, Rukia spun around, her hands instinctively coming up to clutch at the opening of her sleeping kimono to make sure it was properly closed. It was, which was good, because Captain Hitsugaya was letting himself into her room through her window. Without his haori, he blended into the darkness outside, but the one lamp in the room did a good job of highlighting his face.
"Captain Hitsugaya!" she exclaimed, voice a touch too high. "What are you doing here?"
He took his time to look around her room with open curiosity before he answered. Rukia was suddenly very glad she was a relatively tidy person and that she had been too busy recently to have really made a mess anyway.
"I came to retrieve my haori," he said at last.
"Oh." Rukia found herself moving her body to hide the haori behind her. "That wasn't in the rules."
Hitsugaya was looking at her, amused. "And what are these rules, Lieutenant Kuchiki?"
Something about the way he said Lieutenant Kuchiki was several levels above his normal casual teasing.
Rukia stuck her chin out and primly told him, "I stole it, so it's mine now."
"That's not how ownership works, Rukia," he said. He was keeping a respectable distance between them but his eyes were clearly telling her he wanted to come closer.
Rukia pressed her back against the haori. "Steal it back, then."
He was before her in a second. To Hitsugaya's credit, he did try to reach for the haori, but he only did so half-heartedly, because Rukia kept shifting her body to block him and his wandering hands kept bumping into her sides. This caused the girl to giggle.
"It's a crime to steal a captain's haori," he murmured, his lips level with the fringe of her hair.
"Yes, I assume that's why Rangiku and Lieutenant Kusajishi made us do it," Rukia replied, a little breathless from trying to hold in her laughter. Her lieutenant's quarters were a bit isolated from the rest of the squad, but anyone could be wondering around—case in point, the person before her right now.
Hitsugaya pressed his hands flat against the door on either side of her.
"I spoke to your brother," he said.
Rukia tilted her head back, her nose brushing against the underside of the captain's jaw. She was smart enough to know that it must have gone pretty well, if Hitsugaya had been confident enough to climb through her window unannounced. But something seemed to be on his mind anyway, so Rukia stabbed a well-aimed finger into his side.
He grunted, catching her hand swiftly.
"What's wrong?" she whispered, now wishing she had taken the time to find her brother before retiring for the night.
"He isn't entirely pleased," he admitted. "But he's accepting of us, for now."
"What did he say?" Rukia asked, curious as to what kind of conversation they had had.
Hitsugaya pushed away from the door and her, putting some space between them. His fingers were wrapped loosely around her wrist, the pad of his thumb pressed into the delicate juncture of her pulse. It was a little fast but oddly comforting.
"He expects us to get married," he said plainly. "Not right away, but eventually."
Rukia blinked at him. It became clear to Hitsugaya then that the girl had never thought about marriage after all.
"Kind of early to be talking about marriage, don't you think?" she said.
"Tell your brother that," he replied, but he was pleased to know that he and Rukia were on the same page at least.
"Nii-sama faces a lot of pressure to remarry," Rukia said thoughtfully. "I think he was just trying to warn you." She gave him a somewhat concerned look. "Do you not want to be married?"
In the darkened room, Rukia's eyes reflected the lamplight like black mirrors. They were hard to read, but Hitsugaya had already learned what the furrows in her brow and the twist in her lips meant.
"Is that a deal-breaker for you?" he asked.
Surprisingly, she shook her head. "No, I'm worried about what you'll have to face," she told him. He didn't know what it was like to be among the noble classes, especially as a commoner, but Rukia seemed sincerely concerned about him.
"You don't need to worry about things like that," Hitsugaya told her, tracing gentle circles on her wrist. "But let's worry about this when we need to."
Rukia nodded her agreement.
"Your brother and I talked about something else," he continued, his voice dropping into that serious register he used when he talked about work. "It's about Kurosaki."
"Ichigo?" Rukia sounded surprised and failed to notice the way Hitsugaya's eye twitched at this.
Nevertheless, he continued normally: "Yes. Tomorrow, Yamamoto is going to assign you a trip to the human world to collect something from Urahara, some device he's made that can give Ichigo his Soul Reaper powers back. It was supposed to happen after your exam but since you didn't go, it's happening now."
"Why are we suddenly giving Ichigo his powers back? How do we even do that in the first place?" Rukia frowned at him, her mind clearly running a mile a minute already.
"The same way you gave it to him the first time," Hitsugaya calmly replied. "But it won't just be you this time. Your brother, Zaraki, Ikkaku, Renji and I are also volunteering some of our power. It should be enough to reawaken Kurosaki's power."
"But why?" Rukia asked. "Did something happen?"
"We don't know," Hitsugaya told her. "Giving Ichigo his powers back is something the Head Captain has been discussing for a while. He probably always intended to. Aizen's rise in power was just too easy and Ichigo is too powerful of an ally to lose. Urahara will explain the situation to you when you go. Right now, all that Kurotsuchi can tell us is that there's been odd spikes in activity recently."
Rukia nodded a little absently and Hitsugaya sighed.
"Your friends are fine," he said. "Urahara has been keeping an eye on them, and the Gotei Thirteen is willing to go to their aid after what they've done for us."
Her shoulders seemed to relax a little but Hitsugaya could see that her attention wasn't really on him anymore.
He brought his hands up to her shoulders, having to lean down a little to look into her eyes. The sleeping kimono was far thinner than the normal shihakusho and he could feel the very defined edges of her bones under his hands.
"Kurosaki is reckless and hard-headed, but he's not stupid," he said to her. "You should know this the most."
"No, no, no, he's an idiot," Rukia disagreed, but she was smiling up at him. "But, you're right. In any event, we'll know tomorrow."
Hitsugaya let go of her. "I'll accompany you to the Senkaimon tomorrow," he said. "You should get some sleep."
Rukia nodded but caught the sleeve of his shihakusho. "Did you come here just to tell me that?" she asked.
"I did," he said with a raised eyebrow. "Were you expecting something else?"
She narrowed her eyes, already knowing he was teasing her. Never in her life had Rukia ever asked for a kiss before, and she wasn't quite sure how. So she decided not to bother asking.
Rukia got up on the balls of her feet and draped an arm over his shoulder, the palm of her hand coming to rest against the back collar of his shihakusho.
Hitsugaya watched her with open interest, a little unnerving for Rukia, but she was not one to back down, especially now that she had made her intentions clear. She brought her face close to his, catching the way his eyes immediately dropped to her mouth. She smiled, leaned in, and kissed his nose.
She pulled back and kissed his cheek instead, and then his other cheek, and then the point of his chin and along his jaw. They were very sweet kisses but by the time she had covered the area of his face that she could easily reach, something like a growl seemed to be working its way up Hitsugaya's throat.
"Rukia," he warned, voice low.
She pulled back to blink innocently at him. "Yes, Tō-shi-rō?" she replied, stretching his name out liltingly.
Hitsugaya leaned forward but Rukia turned her head away and he ended up kissing the loose hair at her temple.
"You missed your chance," she told him, smug.
"Oh, did I?"
Hitsugaya's hand was suddenly at the side of her face, his thumb pressing against the hollow of her cheek, some fingers along her jaw, some resting against her neck. This was enough to hold her head in place, not that Rukia was struggling to get away.
Hitsugaya's kiss this time was a little forceful, like he was really worried she would pull away. She was incredibly aware of how his nose was pressed up against hers and what the edge of his teeth felt like.
To Hitsugaya, kissing Rukia was the thing he had been thinking about since he'd seen her at her inauguration. He had been itching all day to go see her, pull her into a secluded corner and just press his mouth to hers. Feeling the cool breath she exhaled brush against his cheek and tasting the tea she had had with her dinner made it all worth the wait. At some point, Rukia's finger at the back of his neck had started to curl his hair there, which felt more intimate than anything he had ever done before.
When they parted, Rukia's smile was soft but still smug.
"I still won," she said, a little breathless. "I still got what I wanted."
Well, in that case, Hitsugaya was happy to lose.
When he did eventually untangle from her, as he sat on her window ledge, he nodded to his hanging haori.
"You're really going to make me go through the trouble of getting a new one?" he asked.
Rukia nodded. "Consider it a keepsake of your affection," she said.
Hitsugaya didn't seem to mind this. "What do I get in return?" he asked.
"My heart and soul?" she suggested, only half-jokingly. It made Hitsugaya's entire face very soft, but he wasn't appeased enough to let her off the hook.
"By the laws of equivalent exchange, you still owe me a haori," he said.
Rukia considered him for a moment and then turned away from him. He watched as she rummaged through a drawer on the other side of the room, returning with something folded in her hands.
"This is my first time making something like this," she said, a little bashfully. "So it's not perfect but…"
She unfolded the scarf she had spent weeks knitting into existence in his office, draping it around his shoulders and tucking it around his neck. When she was done she leaned back and nodded in satisfaction.
"It matches your eyes," she said, pleased.
Hitsugaya's hand came up to fold around the soft material. How many hours had she sat and knitted this thing, the metal needles chaffing her fingers, the blue yarn always tangling and needing to be untangled, the endless frustration of every missed or knotted stitch.
What had he said, the laws of equivalent exchange? Hitsugaya figured he owed her about five haoris for this thing, given that the one she was keeping was old and ratty and probably smelly at this point.
"Are you sure you want to give this to me?" he asked. "I happen to know Captain Kuchiki and Captain Ukitake both have their eyes on it." And probably Abarai too, and who knew who else. Hitsugaya had happened upon a conversation with Byakuya and Ukitake at some point, discussing who they thought she was making it for. Both believed it was for them, and were rather looking forward to receiving it.
Rukia seemed to be amused by this. "When I started it, I only wanted to learn," she said, "I never intended to give it to anyone. But the more I made it, the more I realized I was making if for you."
Hitsugaya stepped back into the room and wrapped his arms around her once more. When he eventually left for real this time, the scarf smelt a little more like Rukia.
The next morning, after Rukia had received her official orders, Hitsugaya brought her to the Senkaimon like he had promised. As they stood waiting for the gate to open, he casually caught the end of a strand of Rukia's hair.
"When this is all over, let's visit granny again," he said. "I want to introduce you to her properly this time."
Rukia tilted her head back to look at him. She smiled. "There are people I want to introduce you to, too," she said. "But they're in the outer Rukongai districts. It will probably take more than a day."
"We have time," he said. "Take me wherever you like."
"I will," she promised cheekily, her eyes turning into little half-moons as she smiled.
Hitsugaya wanted to kiss her, even though there were Twelfth Division officers working on the gate nearby. She was only going to be gone for a few hours, but as she stepped toward the gate, black hell butterfly fluttering around her head, he wanted to catch the little hand that had come to fit so comfortably in his hold, and keep her there.
He couldn't do this, of course, but as she turned to wave at him, still smiling that cheeky smile, he thought to himself that they had all the time in the world. He would be waiting here for her when she returned and that hand would be his to hold again.
End of part three.