"You're welcome." Rangiku said simply as she began gathering the dishes. "If you're sure, but it doesn't sound very good." She sighed while clearing the dishes. "The board is under the coffee table in the living room, I'll set it up when I'm done here." She informed him, and set to cleaning the dishes.
It took longer than she thought to clean up all the pans, dishes, and overall mess she'd made preparing the food, but when everything was clean Rangiku strolled back out to the living room to find the boy asleep on her couch. 'Darn him..He's too..Too..Cute to wake up when he's like this..' Rangiku thought to herself. "I suppose he does need his sleep, and I don't see any harm with him spending the night..But." Rangiku began as an idea popped into her head.
After making sure that Toshiro was fast asleep by stroking his hair, and waving a hand in front of his face. Rangiku very carefully slid her arms under the unconscious boy to carry him a short distance to the spare bedroom where she removed his Captain's Haori, and just top layer's of his Shinigami uniform before tucking him into bed. Gently stroking his hair, and whispering to the boy to stay asleep when ever he began to stir. After all was said and done Rangiku breathed a sigh of relief, almost finding it hard to believe she'd pulled it off as she folded up his clothes to set them aside. And after that was done she retrieved his book, and put it on the nightstand before heading to her own room to get some much needed rest herself, setting the alarm to wake her up a little earlier than usual.
Toshiro remaianed asleep through the whole process. He groaned slightly while she undressed him only to be ushered back to sleep by her stroking his hair. Once he was tucked in he relaxed even more no longer threatening to wake up anytime soon.
When morning came around Toshiro failed to wake up at his usual time, mostly because he didn't have his alarm nearby. He was still sleeping even after Rangiku had gotten up and dressed for the day.
Rangiku woke early to get breakfast going before getting dressed herself, then going over to Toshiro to get him awake. Once again she couldn't help but smile at how innocent her Captain looked at the moment. "I wish he was always so sweet looking." She giggled softly to herself while stroking the boy's hair.
Then after going to finish breakfast consisting of eggs and steamed rice, Rangiku returned to his side. "Captain, Breakfast is ready." Rangiku said in a normal tone of voice as she gently poked his shoulder before carefully lifting the blankets off.
"Uh huh?" Toshiro groaned after Rangiku started waking him up. He slowly creaked his eyes open looking around at wherever her voice was coming from. "Matsumoto? What are you doing in my room?" he asked not even realizing that he had spent the night in her spare bedroom. He rubbed his eyes some while the covers were lifted off. Had he been fully aware at the time he would have noticed the wet feeling on the bed and prevented her from moving the covers from him. However since that wasn't the case Ranigku would soon find that he was currently sitting in a moderately sized wet spot.
Rangiku smiled as Toshiro woke up. "I'm not in you're room captain, you fell asleep here last night." She explained to the tired boy as she prepared to lift the blankets off. There was a very slight scent of urine in the air, But most of the smell was being trapped by the blankets. "Now why don't we go-" She began before fully noticing the smell, and laying eyes on Toshiro's soaked pants, and then the wet spot on the bed.
For a moment, Rangiku was speechless, and not entirely sure on how to proceed. But after a few seconds something in the back of her mind kicked her brain into gear. Although it was somewhat of a cute situation, as Toshiro did currently look like the little boy that he was. "Um..Captain.." Rangiku began. "Why don't you go have a nice warm bath while I get breakfast to keep warm, and clean this little mess up?" She suggested while laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I know you didn't do it on purpose, and as far as anyone else is concerned, this never happened." Rangiku assured him.
"But, I don't remember you showing me this bed." Toshiro squinted his eyes trying to figure out how he had ended up in bed. His thoughts were interuppted the moment he recognized the scent of urine emanating from the bed sheets. His eyes bugged out in panic immediately as he tried to cover his soaked pants with his hand and inch away from the wet area. He swallowed and looked up towards Rangiku "R-right." he coughed. "Um where is the bathroom?" he asked realizing that question may have been more appropriate to have asked before he fell asleep.
"Well, you were asleep and looked to nice and comfortable.." Rangiku attempted to explain as she led Toshiro to where the bathroom was in her home. "Here you are, now there's clean towels in the linen cabinet, and I'm sure you can figure out the rest.." Rangiku informed the boy as she got a different clothes hamper for him to put his soiled clothes into. "I'll go ahead and wash these alright? Just take you time, and get nice and clean okay?" She said with some confidence as she disappeared around the corner to leave Toshiro to his privacy so he could change out of what was left of his wet clothes.
Toshiro gathered up the folded robes of his that were still dry, blushing slightly when he realized Rangiku must've stripped him of his overclothes, since he didn't remember taking them off. He walked as briskly as he could, but found the feeling of his soaked pants to be very uncomfortable. "Uh, thanks." he said looking at the rather lavish bathroom. After giving a sigh of relief for the privacy she gave him before starting to draw his bath.
"You're welcome, just remember to set the basket out with your wet clothes before you get in, and I'll wash your clothes for you." Rangiku reminded him once more as she went to strip the bed of the wet sheets and blankets before returning for Toshiro's soiled clothes. With the basket full of soiled fabrics in hand Rangiku went to the other end of her quarters to throw every thing in a small washing machine. And once that was done she went to put their breakfast in the oven on a low temperature to keep it warm.
While doing all this however, Rangiku couldn't help but worry and wonder about what caused her Captain to wet the bed. "I hope he's okay..Maybe it has to do with the cough he has going on.." She thought out loud while going over to the bathroom to check up on Toshiro. "Is everything alright in there?" Rangiku asked while rounding up some spare clothes she'd bought him at one point or another for him to wear while his uniform was being washed.
Before he stepped in he put his soiled clothes into the basket and left it outside the door for Rangku to retrieve. Slowly he stepped into the warm water and sighed.
"Huh? Y-yeah." he coughed slightly before beginning to clean himself. "Say, Matsumoto, what time is it?" Toshiro asked just before the woman could leave from the other side of the door. He had noticed it was fairly bright out, far too bright than it usually is when he wakes up.
"That's good, take however much time you need Captain, there's no rush." Rangiku reminded the boy as she looked up at the clock. "It's a little past 8, so we'll be a little late, but no big deal. the important thing is that you're well rested, and well fed before we go to work." She stated simply, feeling almost maternal as she did so.
Then after getting every thing together she checked in on him once more. "Do you mind if I come in real quick? I've got some clean clothes for you to wear for the time being." Rangiku informed him as she knocked on the door.
"Past eight..." the boy repeated sniffling a little as he let the time sink in. When Rangiku returned sh4e could hear the sloshing of water for a moment and the door suddenly opening. On the other side was a sopping wet Toshiro with a towel around his waist glaring up at her. "What do you mean past eight?" he seethed. This was the first time, barring special circumstances, that he was, by his terms, late. Before today he was always sure to show up a full hour before the actual work day started in order to get a good head start on the work. He was about to chew her out until he was overcome by a coughing fit. Bringing his head up he covered his mouth as his body tried to expel the germs.
"Now Captain..It couldn't be helped.." Rangiku said nervously, hoping he would take it well all things considered, especially the fact that he'd wet the bed. "It's about a quarter after..We can still make it if you like to-" She began nervously, even if the glare was negated slightly by the fact that he was half naked and dripping wet, she could see the frustration written all over his face. "Captain..Look at you, you're sick.." Rangiku pointed out as she set the clothes aside to gently pat him on the back. All the while steering him towards the sink and toilet in case he were to throw up. "Maybe you should take the day off, or I could go and get the work and bring it here. I've still got hot breakfast in the kitchen, and then I think we need to have a little talk about what's happened this morning.." She said while patting and rubbing his back in an attempt to sooth him somewhat. Hopefully she could convince him to stay or at least settle on being a little late.
"I'm... not... sick." Toshiro said stubbornly, even as coughs interrupted his speech. "I just have something in my throat." he continued to protest as Rangiku pushed him back into the bathroom. He blushed when she mentioned having to talk about his accident. "I don't want to talk about it. It didn't happen." he fumed not wanting to admit that he had wet the bed. Even though he wanted to deny it he couldn't, especially since it wasn't even his own bed that he had done it in.
Rangiku continued to pat the dripping wet boy on the back while she reached over to retrieve another towel to pat him dry somewhat. "Captain..It's okay, I don't look down on you cause you had an accident..." She informed him while digging around in the medicine cabinet. "And don't try to tell me you're not sick either, you've been coughing like that for the past couple days, and it's been getting worse." She reminded him while getting out some liquid medicine. "I'm not mad that it happened in my guest bed either, I know you couldn't help it." Rangiku went on as she read the instructions on the bottle, all the while gently patting him on the back. "Now, why don't you take some medicine, or let me make you some more of that herbal tea?" The Vice Captain offered. "As your Vice Captain it's my job to see to your safety and well-being to a certain degree. And I'm doing this because I care about you." Rangiku reminded him as she gently hugged the sick little Captain.
Toshiro looked away silently too embarrassed to speak up while Rangiku talked. He looked back up and watched her grab the medicine suddenly glaring at what she took out. "Not that kind." he muttered under his breath. Contrary to popular belief the boy actually preferred the children's medication whenever he felt ill, mostly because he thought the adult kind tasted too bitter. When she came up to hug him he found that he had started blushing again, this time more because he was still only wearing a towel around his waist at the moment.
"Well, would you rather have the tea then? this is the only kind I have.." Rangiku informed him as she put it back away, and went back to her attempts at comforting him. "It'll be fine, just trust me." Rangiku smiled as she let go of him. "Now, can you get dressed, and come out to the kitchen when you're done? I'll have breakfast and your tea there for you." She informed him while draping the other towel around his shoulders. "And once we're sure you'll be okay, we'll head over to the office if you want. But I'd prefer to do it here..I'll tell you why when you're dressed.." She said simply before gesturing to where the clothes where once more, and then taking her leave to go set the table up, as well as, brew Toshiro some more of the herbal tea.
"Tea is fine." Toshiro responded gripping the other towel tightly while waiting for Rangiku to leave so he could change. He quickly dried himself off and moved on to getting dressed. He groaned when he noticed they were just normal robes and not his standard uniform, but put it on anyway.
After a while he showed up in the kitchen where Rangiku was no doubt waiting for him.
Rangiku was indeed waiting there, just finishing up brewing the the tea. "Hello Captain, breakfast is on the table." She informed him, gesturing to the warm plates of scrambled eggs and steamed rice. "And I'll have your tea done in just a minute." Rangiku assured him as she finished up, and soon joined him with tea in hand. "There you are, see if that doesn't help your cough." She smiled while digging in to her own food. But after awhile of silence she couldn't contain her curiosity anymore. "So..Does this sort of thing happen often..Or do you think it could be just because you're sick at the moment?" Rangiku asked as they were close to finishing up. She eventually went on however. "Now..I think I should just bring the paper work here, so that way. You can take a nap and not worry about others finding out if..'It' happens again." Rangiku pointed out.
"I guess I have no choice but to work here." Toshiro remarked not willing to be seen on duty without his proper uniform. He settled down at the table and began to eat the meal Rangiku had prepared for him. "No, er not often." Toshiro answered her. "At least not since I lived with granny. And hardly ever back then too." he continued remmebring how Momo had wet the bed much more often than he had. "I think maybe it's because I'm sick, but I also didn't go to the restroom before I fell asleep." he added thinking that might be more likely, especially since it meant that it was a one time thing.
"Good, I'm glad you agree it's best if we work here." Rangiku replied as she went on eating. "So it's been a couple years then since the last time this happened? But it's kind of unusual even if you didn't use the restroom beforehand.." She reasoned while trying to make some sense of it in her mind. "It must have something to do with the fact that you're sick..But if it keeps happening..Well.." She trailed off just knowing Toshiro wouldn't like the solution that was coming to her. "I mean..You might want to wear something..To contain it.." She finished, allowing him to put the pieces together.
"Maybe that helped contribute to it." Toshiro responded after swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "It's not going to happen again." he said sharply. "It was a one time accident, there's no reason for a repeat." he said before returning to his breakfast. He remained silent for a few more minutes before suddenly sneezing into his sleeve. "Ugh..." he sniffled.
"Well, let's hope so..You're probably right, but caution never killed anybody. So we'll work here just so when you want to take a nap, no one's around to see anything that may or may not come of it." Rangiku replied as she finished up her food. "You alright?" She asked curiously as Toshiro sneezed. "Here, hold still real quick..." Rangiku requested as she made her way around to the other side of the table behind to the side of Toshiro, and after moving some of his still wet silver hair out of the way she placed her hand over his forehead as a simple gauge of his temperature.
"Don't tell me when to take a nap." Toshiro mumbled still not quite liking the way Rangiku kept reminding him of how he got into this situation in the first place: not taking his naps. "What are you-" Toshiro began to ask when Rangiku got up before getting cut off by her placing her hand on his forehead. He definitely had a fever, but it didn't seem too bad, but certainly enough to warrant a sick day. Surprisingly he allowed her to keep her hand on his head, mainly because her hands were cool compared to his fever.
"I said when you want to take a nap, not when I said so." Rangiku giggled as she came around the other side of the table to feel his head. "Just trust me." She sighed while feeling his head. "You've got a fever alright..I know you probably wont, but I wish you would just take the day off. Get some rest, and take some medicine, maybe even have a little fun..It would be best for you..But I know you probably wont.." Rangiku sighed as she began clearing the dishes, and then went to the bathroom to retrieve the medicine. "But at the very least, please take the medicine, it'll bring your fever down.." She somewhat pleaded with him, Toshiro really could be a stubborn child at times..
"So I am sick?" Toshiro squinted, being wrong was like a punch in the gut for the prodigy. "I can't, I have a lot of responsibilities." Toshiro defended while Rangiku cleared the table. "Besides I don't feel all that sick." he countered whiel getting up to move. "But, I don't like the medicine." Toshiro almost whined.
"I know, but if you keep going like this, you'll end up making it even worse.." Rangiku replied as she read of the medicine bottle. "Even if you don't feel it, your body will eventually break down.." She warned him as she went on cleaning the dishes. "But if you really must insist on this course of action, then I'm going to insist that you take the medicine.." Rangiku sighed while setting the bottle in front of him. "You can't put stress on your mind and body while you're running a fever.." Rangiku said in a rare moment of maternal firmness that left little room for argument.
Toshiro remained silent, she was right. "Yeah, but... don't you have any medicine thatat least tastes better." he sighed picking up the medicine bottle and examining it.
Rangiku sighed, "I don't, that stuff works wonders though, I got it from the fourth division, it's not your every day over the counter stuff. But it doesn't taste all that great.." She admitted. "Well..Can you swallow pills? I think I might have some anti cold pills from the World of the Living laying around.." Rangiku shrugged. "Or, you could avoid taking medicine by not working today.." She suggested, figuring that Toshiro like most children wouldn't be able to swallow pills.
"Are the pills chewable?" Toshiro asked hopefully. If it was his choice he wpuldn't do any of those things, but if it would stop Rangiku from nagging him he figured he might as well try at least one of those options.
"Well..You could chew them I suppose..But you'll regret it. They're meant to be swallowed whole. It's either that or the liquid, but if you think you'll choke on the pills just close your eyes and deal with the liquid.." Rangiku sighed as she felt his forehead once again. "And there's no way I'm letting you work with a fever like that.." She said once again while gesturing towards the bottle. "So, which do you want?" She asked while going back to the bathroom to retrieve the pills.
Toshiro pouted slightly after Rangiku left. Either choice seemed like a loss for him. "I guess I'll take this." he said holding up the medicine bottle Rangiku had showed him first. What he didn't know was the fact that it could cause drowsiness, which was especially effective on younger bodies, such as his own.
Rangiku returned with the pills in hand, and set them down for Toshiro to take his pick. When he chose the liquid she nodded. In her use she never really noticed much of it calling drowsiness, but for Toshiro who was physically a child, it would probably pack quite a punch in a couple hours. "Alright..Let's see here.." Rangiku mumbled trying to get the dosage right. "You wouldn't happen to know your weight off hand would you?" She questioned while looking over the bottle directions. "If you don't know I can find out a different way.." Rangiku informed him with a sly smile, as the image of picking her little captain up off the ground came to her mind. "I need your weight so I know how much of this to give you.." She explained.
"Um no, not offhand." Toshiro said embarrassed. He had quite the complex about his size ebing only 4'4'' and weighing little over 60 pounds he didn't make it a habit of rememebering his measurements. "Do you have a scale or something?" he asked figuring that was what she meant when she said she had ways. He looked about wondering what she meant leaving his defenses open.
"Hm..Well I'll just have to eye ball it.." Rangiku giggled as she gestured for him to stand beside her. Once there she placed her hand flat on his head, and drew it across to her chest. "Right..so between 4' and 4'8".." She mumbled, knowing he was on the lower end of that. "Now for your weight..I have a scale buried around here someplace, but this should be a lot more accurate than that old thing..." She smiled while putting the bottle down, and then scooping her Captain up in her arms. "Hold still.." She giggled while easily shifting the boy's weight in her arms to gauge his weight before gently setting him back down. "Sorry, but if you get too much of this it will supposedly knock you out cold..Or make you absolutely loopy for a bit.." She informed him in justification for what she'd done, and tried not to let it show how much she'd enjoyed it.
"But anyway..Between..60 and 65 pounds.." She said looking at the height and weight chart, and finding about where Toshiro should be. "Alright, that should be about right.." If not a little bit over what he should have..But as long as it lowers his fever.. She thought while measuring it out in the dose cup, and then going to get Toshiro a tall glass of water as the liquid was rather thick. "Alright, just take that straight down..And then I would suggest drinking that water to make sure it all goes down.." Rangiku suggested as she pushed them in his direction.
"4' 4''" Toshiro mumbled, he may not have his weight quite down but he knows he hasn't grown much, if it all in the past years. "What should Wha- Matsumoto!" Toshiro yelled when he felt her lift him off the ground. He immediately started squirming trying to get out of her alarmingly strong hold. It didn't take long for her to fight off his struggling and gauge his weight accurately. He grumbled when she finally let him down.
"Thanks." he grumbled as she handed him the tiny cup. Taking a deep breath, he tilted his head back and downed the syrup like a shot. "Yuck." he exclaimed after swallowing his face twisting up in disgust from the medicine.
"And not to mention a little fun never hurt anybody." She giggled in reference to hose she had gotten away with picking him up. "Now, drink the water, that stuff sticks to you..But it works.." Rangiku said as she passed him the glass of water. "Take a few sips of that, and then feel free swish and spit in the bathroom sink..." She informed him while going to rinse out the dose cup, and set the dishes out to dry.
Once Toshiro was done getting over the medicine, Rangiku sat him down on the couch with her. "Alright, now I'll go get our work, you just sit tight here. I'll be back in a few minutes with it." She said while heading to finish dressing and getting ready before heading out the door to retrieve the paper work.
Toshiro merely turned his head away trying to ignore Rangiku mentioning that she had managed to get away with picking him up. He took the water and quickly chugged the whole cup hoping that it would get the horrible taste out of his mouth.
He followed Rangiku back to the couch and sat down for the while. "Fine." he sighed still disappointed that he couldn't go to the office, or even his own quarters as it seemed Rangiku was hellbent on keeping him in hers.
"Look, we're already here..And you're not in the best of health. So this is the safest option. If anything else like 'that' happens again no one will be around to go talk about it.." She insisted while while handing him his book. "Now, I'll be right back." Rangiku said once again as she went to take her leave. "Oh..If you want I could stop by your quarters to get anything you want..Is there anything you need from there?" She offered before going out the door.
It was then only about fifteen minutes later that Rangiku returned with a stack of paper work, and a bag that contained the things Toshiro had requested such as his tooth brush and other personal hygiene items.
"It's not going to happen again." Toshiro continued to deny the possibilty of two back to back accidents, more than positive that last night was just a fluke. "Just my tooth brush I guess." he sighed figuring he should probably brush his teeth at some point since he hadn't done so yet.
He waited on the couch not bothering with reading his book while he waited. Once Rangiku returned he sat up on the couch ready to take on the day's work.
Rangiku simply nodded her head when he said it was a fluke, hoping he was right, but had a bad feeling all the same. Things just didn't add up, but after pushing those thoughts aside she took her leave, and soon returned.
"You're toothbrush is in there, I also grabbed a few other things you might need just in case." Rangiku said, having thought to get his floss, hair brush, and a host of other little minor things, including an odd item she stuck at the bottom of the bag. "I hoped you wouldn't mind, but I just thought you might want those things, I didn't go through anything." She explained while setting the bag down, and heaving half the stack over to Toshiro along with a pen, stamp, and ink pad. "Just say something if you want something to drink or eat at any time.." Rangiku said as she was sorting things out at the table.
"Good." Toshiro sighed glad to hear that Rangiku didn't snoop around his room. He inched closer to the table to get started. Picking up the pen and dipping it ito the ink making sure to hold his sleeve in order to avoid staining it with ink. It wasn't long before he was settled and focused on his work.
About an hour into his work the drowsiness began to set in. His work slowed down and became sloppy, occasionally dripping some extra ink on to the papers. At one point he forgot to hold his sleeve and managed to stain it with some ink. His eyes dipped low and he began to yawn more often than he coughed. After sloppily signing his name once more he brought an ink stained hand up and rubbed his eye leaving a black mark around his eye.