The first time I was ever jealous of another man was when you came into my office one day, raving about some little white haired boy you'd met that day in the market.

It wasn't even a man I was jealous of, it was a boy. Little did either of us know that the he would eventually become your grumpy, overly protective, observant little captain.

The shop-keeper had been trying to steal the change the boy was owed, you said as you flopped down into a chair across from me, and you'd immediately jumped in. It amused me, as much as you hated being rescued, you were so quick to do so for others.

"It was crazy, Gin," you said breathlessly, "I couldn't believe it. The air around him, when I spoke to him was almost…cold." You shivered involuntarily, which made me glance up from the documents I'd been signing. Aizen was gone, off at some meeting or another. The office was silent, peacefully quiet.

At least, it had been till you'd come in with your stories of the little white-haired boy.

I wasn't annoyed that you'd come in and were chattering, I just smiled and continued my work. It wasn't often we saw each other; after I'd been promoted to fukutaicho, I worked late and often.

I also spent more and more time with Aizen, behind locked and spelled doors, listening to his plans for the future of Soul Society and for himself. I was fascinated, captivated by him very early on. But you didn't know that.

You never did, till it was far too late.

"I'm almost worried about him. It's too much power for such a young kid who doesn't know what to do with it," you said after a moment of silence. You'd been thinking, deeply, I could tell by the way you'd been biting your bottom lip.

I raised my head, furrowing my brow. "Why don' ya' go talk to him? Tell 'im to apply to the Institute."

You thought about that, tilting you head slightly. "I think I will."

You tried searching for his reiatsu right then, but gave up after a few minutes, disgruntled. You couldn't get a hold on it, and your frustration showed clearly on your face.

Aizen taicho walked into the office then. He smiled pleasantly at you, his mask on, just as mine usually was.

"Matsumoto-san," he said as she set the folder he'd been carrying down on his desk. "What a nice surprise."

You straightened up then, smiling at my captain. As far as I ever knew, you liked Aizen, at least until we'd packed off to Hueco Mundo. "Aizen taicho."

"What brings you here?" he asked you good naturedly as he went about making tea for himself. Even then—even now, in a dry, desert wasteland—wherever Aizen is, tea soon follows. It almost unnatural, how much he likes the drink. But then again, you are a sake fanatic in the same manner, so I guess you'd understand.

"I met a little boy in Rukongai today," you told him, "with an immense reiatsu."

You didn't notice Aizen perk up at that. But I did; his eyes flashed darkly. He was forever looking for those he could use. "Oh?"

You nodded. "I'm worried, I don't think he knows it's there, or how strong it is. It was leaking everywhere." You shivered again and then looked back at me, then back to Aizen. "Gin suggests I go and find him again, tell him he should apply to The Central Spirit Institute."

Aizen looked at me, appraisal in his eyes.

Honestly, I was not advising you to go find the boy for Aizen. I just didn't like seeing you in distress.

"That sounds like a very good idea," Aizen said. "Have you a grasp on his reiatsu?"

You shook your head. "Not yet, but I'm trying."

Aizen seemed pleased, and he smiled at you, his eyes flashing once towards me, before he began to sift through the mass of paperwork on his desk.

It wasn't till later in the afternoon, when I had snuck over to you during my lunch break, that you found him. I'd soon come to realize that your little taicho had a knack for interrupting us, in all manner of the sense. I'd had you up against the wall of your rooms, pinned between my arms, doing awfully seductive things to your neck with my mouth when suddenly, you gasped and pushed me away.

I'd blinked, my eyes shooting open. Your pale blue met my ice blue and you smiled widely. "I found him!" you said, and it took me a moment to comprehend what you were talking about.

"Oh," I said rather lamely. "Go find 'im, then."

I think you were too excited to note the frustrated tone that had crept into my voice, because you flashed away immediately. Later that night, we lay spent side-by-side on your futon, finally finishing what we'd started before you'd rushed off.

Sleep was beginning to wash over me when you spoke: "I think he's going to apply."

I did not sigh, or groan in annoyance, but I felt like it. You hadn't been able to stop speaking about your white-haired wonder-child since you'd found him that afternoon.

"Good," I whispered, rolling over and drawing you close to me. Even the I know I didn't really mean it.

A few months passed before you mentioned him again. You'd seen him at the Institute, and were positively thrilled. I still have yet to understand your fascination with your captain.

You weren't aware, but I knew who he was. He'd been discussed at official meetings, as well as unofficial meetings that occurred with Aizen. Your little captain was strong, stronger than most ranked shinigami already, and smart. Seireitei was ready for his captaincy exam, before he'd even graduated.

Hitsugaya Toushiro, we all knew, was destined for great things.

I saw him for the first time in your company. I think you'd been checking in on him every now and then, and I slipped out one day with you to do. It helped that I'd been ordered to do so by my taicho; it made me feel less like I was going along to scope out this boy who was slowly stealing you form me, whether either of you knew it or not.

He was easy to pick out in the crowd of students, despite his short stature. The power that radiated from him was impossible to ignore.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" you called out, your voice a trill, waving enthusiastically at him.

His face when he saw you was priceless; a nearly comical look of raw annoyance.

"What do you want?" he asked as you drew level with him. I followed a few steps behind you.

"Just checking up!" you said happily.

He looked, if possible, more annoyed. He opened his mouth to shoot a retort at you, but it was then that he noticed me.

Like your hellcat, your captain wasn't fond of me from the beginning. I could feel his aquamarine eyes scanning me, up and down. I just smiled at him, and his eyes narrowed at me.

You noticed the direction of his gaze and promptly introduced me.

"Hitsugaya, this is Ichimaru fukutaicho."

He didn't seem very impressed.

"Yo, Hitsugaya-kun," I said easily. His eyes narrowed once more.

He distrusted me from that moment on. I think he could see through my grin to the malicious side of me right off. I could feel the air around me grow colder as he glared.

You fawned over him then, before he'd responded to me, and his annoyance returned once more. He blushed profusely when you hugged him goodbye, trying his best to squeeze his way out of your vice-like grip, stuttering angrily. Watching you bother him was funny, and I told you so when we left.

"Why so funny?" you demanded.

"I think he's got a crush on ya', Ran-chan," I said. It wouldn't be all that surprising. Half of Seireitei had some sot of crush on you.

You laughed dismissively.

I reported to Aizen later that day that Hitsugaya would not able to be of use to him. He seemed disappointed, but I could tell he still held out some shred of hope.

The next time I saw him was when he was appointed to be your captain. His eyes still bored into me like ice, fixing me with a cold, cold glare. I only smiled at him. We'd grown apart in the time that had passed since I'd first met the boy.

I think that was one of the reasons you are so loyal to him. He was there for you when I was not, just as he is now.

I don't know if you harbor feelings for your taicho, I think you enjoy patronizing him more than anything, but I'm not positive. It wouldn't surprise me. He's everything I'm not, really. On the opposite pole from where I stand in almost everything— the one thing I think we share is our desire to keep you safe.

The most striking difference between the two of us now is relatively simple: he's there, with you now, wherever it is you are.

That is reason alone to make me jealous.

This one took a while for me to do, but I think it turned out nicely.

The next chapter involves some more of my favorite crack paring, and a very cranky kitty. Hopefully, that is something to look forward too.

I also want to say thanks to all the reviews and alerts and favorites I've been getting for this fic-- I wasn't expecting any of it.

You guys are warming my cold, Minnesotan-self :)

As always, please review!

-Luin