DAY 1:
Rangiku buried her head under her pillow, desperately trying to block out the blaring noise emitted from the electronic devil on her bedside table. Peeking out from under one corner of her shield, she read the large digital numbers,
'Five in the morning, damn it all.'
She groaned at the thought of getting out of bed, for work of all things, at this ridiculous hour.
'Just think of all the delicious sake.'
Stretching in an arc, she let out a loud yawn and rolled to the side of her canopied bed and sat up, long legs swung over the side.
'The sun isn't even up yet…I'm usually just now getting to bed. So. Lame.'
She made her way down the soft carpeted hall, ricocheting off the pale yellow walls all the way.
Once in the elegantly furnished bathroom, she ran the tap filling up the enormous claw footed tub, adding sweet smelling liquid creating large crests of bubbles. Pulling long silky hair up into a clip, she slid into the inviting waters. She laid back, languor setting into her muscles, inhaling the cherry blossom essence. Her lids fell slowly, sleep dragging her back down. 'No!' She shot upward, water cascading over the marble sides, flooding the dark tiled floor. She levered herself up out of the oh so comfortable bath. Stepping out, she wrapped a fluffy towel the color of lilacs around her generous curves. Standing in front of the full length bathroom mirror, she brushed her long strawberry blonde locks until they shone, then grabbing a crystal bottle, produced a cloud of an enticing aroma. Tossing the towel over the pond sized body of water on the floor, she moved to her room and donned her uniform.
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It was five thirty-seven when she crossed the threshold of their shared office, a tray of tea for two in perfectly manicured hands. The young captain didn't hear his lieutenant enter and startled slightly upon the slight clatter as she set down her offering.
"Matsumoto…" He addressed her, white brows furrowed in confusion, turquoise eyes following her movements as she poured tea for them both. He said nothing more as she set his cup down in front of him, avoiding the important documents as to not leave rings.
"Captain." She quietly replied as she grabbed her own cup and proceeded to her desk over flowing with over-due documents needing to be read, stamped, and signed. Taking up her pen, she settled in for the presumable hours of work ahead of her.
Something was up and Hitsugaya knew it. This new and improved Rankgiku was a ploy and he was not going to be taken for a ride. He eyed her suspiciously, reports and documents forgotten. A few moments longer of silence had his finger viciously tapping the large wooden desk, temperature of the room dropping dangerously low. His subordinate merely pulled the pink sweater draped over the back of her chair, up and around her shoulders. That was it.
"Matsumoto!" He stood abruptly sending his chair clattering to the floor, a burst of reiatsu lashing out through the room.
Her face jerked up from her work, pen sliding across the pale document and honey colored desk. She looked down at the mess, jaw dropping, then to the short captain throwing his temper tantrum, perturbation clear on her flawless face.
"Captain." She whined. "I was working really, really hard on this and look what you did." She held up the ink smeared document for display. He paid no attention and she lowered it to the desk with a pout.
"What are you up to?" He demanded voice low and curt.
"My work, captain." She held up the paper again, brows creased with confusion.
"Uh huh. What are you really up to?" He asked skeptically, eyes roving her face looking for any tell of the lie he was positive she was hiding.
"Exactly as I said- " She began before he cut her off with a slash of his hand through empty air.
"Don't give me that." He snapped. "I am not to be mistaken for a fool."
She was standing now, irritation causing her to clench her fists. "You know, I don't get you. I don't do my work you get angry, I do my work you get angry. I think captain, you may have an anger management problem." She glared at him from across the short distance they stood apart, he truly taken back by his lieutenant's sudden outburst. Shaking his brief disoriented state, he too glared daggers at the disrespectful woman.
"I am your captain and I will not have you speaking to me in such a manner. Your personal opinions and feelings shall be kept as just that, personal. Now, sit down and quietly finish your work lieutenant Matsumoto." His chest was rising and falling with each ragged breath. He had lost his temper and retaliated, words a bit sharper than intended. Sick of the whole situation, he left the room and a very sullen Rangiku in his wake.
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She was reading through a mind numbingly boring report on the expenditures for reconnaissance missions done in the world of the living, when a small white folded paper soared in through the open window and landed delicately on her desk. Cocking a pale eyebrow, she unfolded the invading paper plane.
'Come to the window'
Curious, she rose from her chair and crept to the window, on high alert, of her captain's possible return. Head out the open window, she scanned the yard for the pilot of the mysterious letter. Squinted sky blue eyes finally locked on to a distant object reflecting light. The object shifted and she could finally see what had produced that blinding glare. There was Ikkaku's smug face, jug of sake in hand, leisure strut taking him up before her.
"What do you want?" Annoyance was evident in her tone. He grinned, hoisting the near full jug up on his sword.
"Wanna' drink?" He leered. She reflexively reached for the proffered jug. He grinned wider, sensing victory. Jerking back her hand, she glared at the saboteur. He knew damn well that it was her usual "tea time", and was trying to manipulate the situation. She had already missed her "morning pick me up" and her nerves were frazzled to say the least. But, she wasn't going to lose to the chrome dome jerk below her.
"No. I don't." She said curtly, crossing slender arms under her abundance of cleavage. "Now, if you don't mind, I have reports to finish." With that, she turned to make her way back to her overflowing desk.
"You won't make it twenty-four hours, Rangiku!" He shouted, hanging by the tips of his fingers from the window sill.
Her reply to the taunt was the sudden downward motion of the heavy window pane, crushing the antagonist's appendages in the process. She couldn't help the satisfied smile that came to her lips as he howled in pain, still trapped and hanging. She watched his futile attempts of escape for a few minutes before finally releasing the purple mangled fingers, sending him to the ground with a grunt. She shut and locked the window and returned to her desk.
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The sun was hanging low in the vibrant hued sky the next time she chanced a glimpse at the clock. She had made it almost twelve hours since making her oath of sobriety. She was quite proud and gave herself a mental pat on the back. If she could stay busy like today, the week would fly by.
"I can do this!" Acclamation accented by a fist pump.
Rising from her paper prison, she stretched loosening up the knots created from hunching over the copious amount of parchments. Her hand had gone numb and her eyes were blurry. She made her way out the barracks door intent on a good meal and a hot bath before falling face first into her welcoming nest of down blankets and plush pillows.
She walked down the path looking at the sky morphing from crimson and gold hues to that of violets and indigos.
'It sure is pretty tonight.' she thought as she inhaled the cool air permeated with earthy odors of fresh grass and damp soil.
A slight chill ran up her spine causing her to think of her still absent captain.
'Where did you run off to?'
Her positive mood slowly drowned in somber thoughts of her ever stoic captain.
'I hate when we argue. I don't even know why we can't converse without some stupid spat emerging. Then again, I was pretty quick to lash out when he accused me of devious schemes. He never seems to trust me.'
She stopped mid-step, realization tugging at her gut.
'Maybe the guys were right. This is my own doing. I do tend to bend the truth a bit.'
Shaking her head, she continued to her place, feet a bit weightier from guilt. Unlocking her door, she walked in and began getting ready for bed.
'I'll apologize first thing tomorrow.'
Those were her last thoughts after collapsing on top of her still made bed, as a day's worth of hard work took its toll.