The Proposal
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my computer. Enjoy!
Short Note: Hey guys! So I received a review asking why Hitsugaya was the only person with a Japanese name around. To clear things, I've decided to post this short note. The reason why is becasue they aren't in Japan at the mo. Hitsugaya lives alone in NY. The office is also located in NY, hence the English names.
Another question I got is, "Are there going to be anymore Bleach characters?" Unfortunately, no. I actually really wanted to fit in some of them, but I couldn't quite make them fit. You guys will see a familiar name later on the story though (;
xx
Rangiku left immigration as soon as Kellinger was done and waited for Hitsugaya outside, in the streets. "What took you so long?" She demanded as soon as she saw Hitsugaya appear from the front door.
"I, unlike someone, had to stay inside and take care of some papers before I could go." Hitsugaya replied sarcastically.
"Hey, you can't blame me for wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. That Kellinger guy was such a creep! And he kept staring at me like he wanted to crazy murder me or something." Rangiku huffed.
"Please. It was your top. I told you to change into something more decent, yet you didn't want to. You can't blame him for goggling. Everyone was too." He said while walking along the streets.
"What's wrong with my clothes? It's a simple white shirt! Okay, so maybe I might've undone some of the buttons. It's a hot day today! And what do you mean everyone was looking? That's just silly. But hey, does that mean you were looking too?" Rangiku teased, with a wink.
A flustered Hitsugaya then said, "Yeah, you wish. Now come on, we gotta get to the airport soon. I've already contacted my family, and I told them I'd be going there for the weekend, and I have a surprise, so..." He whipped out his BlackBerry and punched in a few buttons, "Aaand done. Our tickets are booked. Okay, so our flight for Alaska leaves in 3 hours, so I'll meet you in the airport soon." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at Rangiku, "Questions?"
"Can't get rid of me soon enough, can you?"
"Just go home and pack."
They were soon gone.
Later, on the plane
Hitsugaya positioned himself comfortably against the plush seat and proceeded to put on earplugs while Rangiku just kept fidgeting.
"Matsumoto, would you stop fidgeting? I'm trying to sleep here." Hitsugaya said, motioning to the pair of earplugs in his hands.
"It's just these seats are SO comfy! I've never sat first class before! Have you? Psh, of course you gosh! There's a built-in TV too!" Matsumoto said enthusiastically, reaching out for the TV.
Hitsugaya shook his head at Rangiku's excitement and at last pocketed the earplugs, "Alright, alright. I can't possibly sleep now, so let's just go through the possible questions the INS will be asking us on Monday." He pulled out a folder overflowing with papers and shoved them to Rangiku.
"Can't I at least explore the plane first?" She pouted.
"No. And stop pouting your lips." Hitsugaya said without looking up.
"Why? Is it bothering you?" She smirked.
Hitsugaya cheeks turned a light shade of red, "'Course not. Stop being crazy. Now ask me some questions."
"Alright, alright. Now stop frowning. You'll get lines, darling." She paused and looked at Hitsugaya's unimpressed expression. "Oh, alright. Just stop giving me that look."
"Um, question one. What is my favorite color?" Rangiku asked slowly.
"Uh, bl-..yel-, um, pink?" Hitsugaya guessed.
"How'd you know? Oh my God, do you secretly stalk me or something? You do, don't you? How else would you know?" Rangiku gasped, sitting upright, her eyes wide.
"N-no. I just figured you're a girl, and girls... um, like pink." Toushiro mumbled uncomfortably.
Rangiku squinted her eyes. Soon, she asked another one, "Right. So, do I have any pets?"
"No?" Hitsugaya said uncertainly.
"I do. It's a rabbit. It's name, actually, is Shir-" She paused midway after looking at Hitsugaya's expression.
Matsumoto bit her lip from saying anything else, and finally said, "Okay, I think I've had enough. How about we switch? Your turn to ask me questions." She put the folder in Hitsugaya's lap and reached a magazine for herself to read. "Now the good news is, I know everything about you. Bad news is, you have 3 days to learn all about me. So you'd better get learning."
Hitsugaya scoffed and said, "Psh, really? What am I allergic to?"
"Pecan nuts. And of course any type of human interaction." She added sarcastically.
"Ha-ha. Very funny." Toushiro chuckled back dryly, clearly not amused. "So, you really know all the answers to these questions about me?"
"Have you forgotten I'm your assistant? I'm supposed to know these things about you. Hit me with another question and you'll see." Rangiku replied, flipping through another page of the glossy magazine.
"Fine. Do I have any siblings? What are their names?" He quipped.
"You don't have any siblings. You're an only child." Rangiku retorted almost immediately.
"How is it that you know so much about me and I know nothing about you?" Hitsugaya asked both amazed and incredulously.
"That's 'cause your too busy eating chil-" Rangiku was just about to finish her snarky remark when a stewardess interrupted them, "Drinks?" The stewardess smiled.
"Champagne, please." Toushiro said, pointing to the glittering bottle on the stewardess trolley thingy. "And what about you, darling?"
"I'll have an oran-, oh wait, I think I'll have a mango bash." Rangiku decided after surveying the variety of juices.
"One serving of mango bash and champagne coming right up." She handed them over shortly after, "Enjoy your flight, Mr. and Mrs. Hitsugaya."
"Oh, we uh, we aren't married." Rangiku blabbed before she could stop the words from coming out. She hastily covered her mouth with her hand, looking mortified at what she just said.
The stewardess – both taken aback and confused said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. It says in the report the couple sitting in row A-5 and A-6 is married." She apologized.
Hitsugaya poked Matsumoto's arm sharply. To the stewardess, he said, "Yet. She means 'We're not married yet'. We are engaged, yes. Not married." Toushiro cleared with a polite smile.
"Oh, of course. Enjoy your flight." The stewardess then hastily left, seemingly unconvinced.
After the stewardess left, Hitsugaya glared at Rangiku. Rangiku glared back, "What?"
"Do you mind explaining to me what just happened?" Hitsugaya asked cooly.
"What? It slipped out before I could stop it, okay?" She said with a defiant shrug.
Toushiro sighed with exaggerated patience, "Forget it."
Rangiku looked up from the airplane floor and at him, "Sorry." She mumbled.
Hitsugaya returned her look and sighed again, "It's fine. I'm just a little stressed out."
"A little? A lot, more like." Matsumoto motioned to the champagne in front of him. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, the flight's landing soon, and I haven't even started learning your behavior. How am I supposed to make this thing work? And the interview's on Monday. That's 3 days away."
"First off, don't say behavior. It's like you're a scientist and I'm a pet rat that you're studying or something. Secondly, it's not you making this work. It's us. I agreed to this too, remember?" Rangiku said, after a few moments of silence.
Hitsugaya blinked, taken aback by Rangiku's sudden seriousness. When he regained his composure, he started laughing.
"Hey! Stop laughing!" Rangiku hit his arm with the magazine she was holding. "I just got in touch with my inner self and poured things the way I see it to you, and the best you can do is laugh? Seriously?" Rangiku turned her head away and pretended to be angry.
This seemed to stop Toushiro from his fits of laughter.
"I-I'm sorry. It's just this situation we're stuck in-" He breathed for air, "-is so silly. And you suddenly becoming the wise one most definitely isn't helping at all."
The woman in question faced him indignantly, "Are you saying I'm not wise?"
"Well, I wouldn't say wise. More like, cra-" Toushiro trailed off.
Their bickering was suddenly cut off when the PA system in the plane crackled and boomed.
'Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, we are beginning our descent into Juneau.'
Rangiku knitted her brows together, "Juneau? I thought we were going to Sitka?"
"We are going to Sitka."
"How are we getting there?"
Moments later, bus
"I hate bus rides! This one in particular. The seats are so small!" Rangiku grumbled.
"Yeah, well, maybe the seats aren't small. Maybe you're just fat."
"How dare you! I am so NOT fat!" Rangiku smacked him across the arms and scoffed.
The bus ride took more or less an hour, in which Rangiku kept grumbling and groaning. If it wasn't about the cooling system, it'd be about the squeezy seats. The bus halted moments later and passengers began to get off.
"Oh God, hallelujah, finally!" Rangiku said as soon as the bus stopped.
She jumped up to her feet instantly and pointed to her luggage in the cabin with a smile, "Darling, could you get that for me, please?"
"You don't need to get into character this soon, you know. You can wait 'till we get down from the bus." He rolled his eyes, "But being the great and sweet fiancée I am, I'll go get your luggage."
"But whoever said I was pretending?" Rangiku asked innocently. To which earned her another eye roll from Toushiro.
They both got off the bus and it soon left with a few false starts.
Rangiku stood in the middle of Sitka's street and said, "I've never been to Sitka, but you know wha-" She whirled around to find Hitsugaya but he was already miles in front of her.
"Yeah, you could at least wait for your fiancée." She muttered.
Rangiku tottered to Hitsugaya, clinged her arms around him, and walked alongside him.
"Oh my God, is that them? Are we supposed to act like we're in love now?" She asked, pointing to a woman whom she thought looked a little like her boss.
"Yeah, act natural please." Toushiro nodded fervently, then stopped walking.
"Hi!" Toushiro's face broke out in a wide smile.
"Oh, come here!" An elderly woman leaned forward and wrapped Hitsugaya around her tightly.
"You're suffocating him!" A brunette said, with a laugh. "Shiro! You've lost some weight!" She added worriedly.
The brunette hugged Toushiro for a long while before releasing him, "Oh, I've missed you so much! But we can catch up later. I just want to see your girl now. The one you keep telling me about since yesterday?" She asked, her face glowing.
Rangiku – who was hiding behind Hitsugaya, got ushered forward by him, "She's… right here! Um, Rangiku, say hello to Okaa-san."
To Be Continued..
Author's Note: H and M are just too cute to write! I love reading you guys' reviews so much, I updated the next day! I originally wanted to make you guys suffer and wait though muahaha. Alaska adventures are up in the next chapter, so review! c: