From this day on, I'm officially keeping a record of every 24hours I have to spend in this House of Evil. I'm going to use the kitchen cupboard above the sink to whittle lines and crosses with Hyourinmaru, putting a good purpose to the space just under the yellow inscription "Happy Home!". Or I might as well use my nails to claw the symbols, just to heighten the dramatic effect of the whole message, making sure that everybody knows how much I suffered when they find my rotting corpse, hanging on a rope from the chandelier.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Day One:

Objective: Survival

Enemy Forces: Team M (a.k.a. Fearsome Matsumoto)

Ally Forces: Team H (a.k.a. Ancient Flying Pervert)

Military Camp: The Great Field of Kitchen

Soldier: Me

Chances of Successful Objective Completion: Slim and diminishing

I didn't sleep well during the night. I kept jumping from the smallest noise every time my eyes closed, and all these tiny unpleasantnesses worked like charm in transforming my skull into a throbbing timebomb. Nevertheless, I kept going with my sad attempts to slumber with my head resting on the kitchen table, since I was feeling way more than just reluctant over the idea of Matsumoto going on another night tour. When the exhaustion finally overwhelmed me, the sun was beginning to rise. Being the lucky guy I am, I had a nightmare.

Just as every other dream, this one, too, started from the middle. I was running late for a captain's meeting, which alone was a unnerving experience, and when I arrived at last, all of the other taichos had already got there and had lined up. My apologizes died in my throat the moment all of my colleagues' faces turned in my direction. Now that I look at it, the situation wasn't nearly as hair-raising as it had seemed to me back then, but at that moment, all I could do was remain frozen on spot, goggle-eyed to the point of impossible as the realization sank in in several cold splashes. Those were not my friends standing there in their trade-mark white haories – those were large, human-sized eggs and they were angry!

Moreover, the general-egg was the most macabre of them all. He turned to me and said:

"Captain Hitsugaya is late. He is to be exterminated without mercy."

Next thing I knew I had bolted towards the exit, all the twelve captain eggs hot on my heels.

The rest of the dream revolved about my sprint and several curious scenes I passed during the run, one of them representing my zanpakuto in human form, proposing to a very blushing and giggling Yumichika.

I woke up at the feeling of someone pulling me up. Two hands, trained well in the art of carrying drunken people from point A to point B, slinked under my arms, lifting me up on my wobbly feet. The only protest that I managed to form was a soft groan as I leaned weakly against a very welcoming and very comfortable shoulder.

"Have you been sleeping on the table the whole night, taicho?" she cooed gently against my ear and a hand rubbed my arms soothingly as I was guided out of the kitchen. My dulled senses refused to respond to neither the velveteen texture of the voice, nor the hot breath that was nipping tenderly on my skin.

"Sleeping?" I lisped tiredly and my dry lips broke into a half-smile. "No, I haven't been sleeping on the table the whole night…"

"Did the couch keep you up? Told ya it was a bad idea."

"The couch is perfectly fine."

"A donkey would be more tractable than you are, taicho."

"That's why I am your captain, and not the donkey."

Matsumoto chuckled and made a slow turn to the left, leading me towards the staircase.

"I'm taking you upstairs." She announced and I suppressed a whine.

"Can't make it…" I mumbled with exaggerated feebleness and then emitted a tortured moan, letting my knees bend to heighten the effect. Matsumoto just pulled me up again, intentionally pressing my face to her chest.

"If you're going to act like a spoilt brat, I'll have to treat you like one, too." She informed me sweetly. "And you know how much I like hugging kids."

Of course. The hug-of-death card.

That effectively kicked the drowsiness away and I allowed her to lead me to the bedroom where I quickly snuck under the covers of the queen-sized bed, forgetting all of my inhibitions. A small smile twisted my lips as I realized it was still warm from where she had been lying.

"I'm going downstairs, taicho, to have some breakfast. You catch up on your sleep." She said but I didn't pay her much attention since half of my brain had already shut down. Ten seconds later I was asleep.

Waking up has never been a difficult task for me to accomplish – I'm a morning person by nature, unlike Matsumoto, who is your typical party animal and prefers passing her days on the office sofa while having a much better way to spending the night hours. To some extent, this has always been a bit of an issue between us, especially when we dated, because I was usually collapsing on the bed at the same time she was getting up, fresh and ready for trouble-making.

Hyourinmaru has always mocked my strict waking up and going to bed regime. He says I'm like a chicken, which I have tried to decipher on several occasions with very little success so far. I try to believe what he really means is a "rooster" but one can never know what is boiling in that icy head.

Anyway, back to Day 1. I woke up in the early afternoon, feeling my body heavy and my eyes reluctant to open. As an addition to the effects of the oversleeping, my neck felt stiff and painful on the right side, probably a cruel reminder never to fall asleep on a kitchen table in the future.

I slid out of the bed with a groan and headed towards the corridor, all the while muttering with vexation under my breath. The smell of friend eggs hit me hard in the face as I opened the door of the bedroom and I shivered with distaste. The dream from last night was plenty enough of a reason not to eat a single egg in my entire life again. Ever.

"What are you doing?" I asked, dragging my feet in the kitchen. Matsumoto, who was currently nudging the content of a frying pan with a wooden spoon, peeked over her should at me and grinned.

"Putting my amazing cooking skills to a use." She said, batting her lashes demurely. I sighed wearily.

"You should stop before adding anything unthinkable to this." I pointed out, pulling a bottle of fresh milk out of the fridge and pouring myself a glass.

"Cucumber cubes and maple syrup is not unthinkable. It's just very original…" she argued and I rolled my eyes. "By the way, taicho, you don't look so good… You're not getting sick, are you?"

I drained the milk and removed the brim of the glass from my lips almost painfully slowly as I thought over what to reply. I knew sleepwalkers didn't usually remember sleepwalking so there was a very good chance that she didn't even know she was doing this.

I poured myself another dosage of milk and drank it just as quickly, feeling the cold liquid flow down through my system pleasantly. Truth to be told, I wasn't sure if I really had to tell Matsumoto anything about what had happened. I mean, truthfully, I didn't remember seeing her do anything like this when we dated, so last night could've been an isolated case due to higher stress levels. Therefore, was there any point in worrying her in vain right now? Like it wasn't enough that her eggs were on fire.

"Stop staring, Matsumoto." I scolded her impassively when her eyes on the back of my head became a bit too much. "I'm not going to "kick the bucket" because of a horrible virus. Unlike me, though, your food is burning to death."

The screech that followed my discovery almost burst my eardrums, but somehow as opposed to my lieutenant's meal, they were actually successful in getting out alive. Truth to be told, watching Matsumoto scurry over the brand new disaster she's caused has always been an amusing thing to witness, which is why, being the much experienced and gallant captain I am, I propped myself on the kitchen counter and joyfully contemplated the scene. Laughing openly the whole time, too.

Five minutes of that were plenty enough to make my stomach ache. My lieutenant might be very deft and ingenious when it comes to combat skills but in the kitchen she's as helpless as a turtle that has tumbled over on its back. I mean look at her – she spent half of her time screaming and jumping on one spot, eyes glued with horror on her burning food, and just then did she remember to do something about it. Which, of course, was not turning off the cooker, but (observe her brilliant analytical abilities!) blow as hard as she could on the eggs. I fall silent in awe, goggling at the sight of a fully grown woman who apparently has absolutely no idea of how to handle a fire emergency if she were to so unfortunately discover herself in one. Bothersome, I conclude, the absurdity of the situation still in a heavy traffic jam on its way to reach my mind, but what to do. At least she's putting some genuine effort in surmounting this little hinder.

I blink.

Her blowing abilities are impressive, something notes in the back of my mind as I continue scrutinizing the happening, my head cocking to a side as my brow arches with a sort of curiosity. And the apron looks very nice on her. Like it's not ever there.

'It's not working!' she screeches then and the candid fear in her voice acts like a green light for my train of thoughts. 'I'd be surprised if it did' I manage cleverly before bursting into uproarious laughter. She doesn't tolerate my response, I can see it in her menacingly shining eyes, but the hell do I care, my lungs are going to explode.

"Taicho, if you're going to be like this the whole time, we won't be able to get along." She announces earnestly as she puts her hands on her hips. The mommy voice she uses makes me laugh even harder and I successfully crash down off the counter, clutching my stomach for dear life.

"…Off!"

"What?"

"Turn… t-the cooker off!" I gasp and for a moment she seems even more angry by my advice.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she exclaims stubbornly but after a second of musing and defending her feminine rights, she turns around and does just that, sending me a sharp glare over her shoulder.

Several minutes later the urgent situation was overcome successfully and I had managed to wipe away the tears that had formed on the corners of my eyes from all this laughing. The half-accusing smile Matsumoto gave me as she placed the pan in the sink made something in my chest swell.

Nothing can make you laugh like she does. Hyourinmaru chanted in my head and I closed my eyes, filtering out all the noise, blocking all the prejudices that had been poisoning every minute and every second I had had to spent with this woman ever since we broke up.

"Is there any particular reason why you're still standing here, half naked and smiling to yourself?" Matsumoto's voice cut through my blissful reverie and my eyes shot open, frown in place. Now she was the one laughing.

"Maybe there is, but I'm not going to tell you now, that's for sure." I bit back and crossed my arms in front of my chest. My words made her look especially pleased with herself.

"By the way" I continued, spinning around on my heel. "Any idea what we can do around here?"

Matsumoto's chuckle sounded peculiar and I had to suppress the urge to turn around to have a better chance to gauge her expression.

"So glad you asked…" she purred. "Come down when you have dressed and I'll show you."

I tried not to fear those words as much as I did.

Flashback:

"Do you always have to sneak through the window?" Rangiku asked when I lodged my hands on the window frame and subtly leapt in her room.

"I thought you said that was romantic." I pointed out absently as I dusted off my robes and turned around to let the curtains down. I heard her get up from her lounge, her airy steps approaching me from behind.

"It was… The first couple of hundred times." She bantered me and I tensed, feeling slender fingers glide along the exposed skin on the back of my neck. "Still not ready to face the music?"

I didn't reply, closing my eyes as she wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me against her, a quick, sinfully chaste peck landing on my cheek. At times like these… In such small moments, stolen wrongfully from the reality, moments, when we didn't have to pretend that there was nothing more than genuine friendship between us, my resolve did indeed falter, concussed by her warmth, her care and placidity. I hated her and I loved her for it. Because she made it sound so easy, so damn easy and tempting. As if seeing captains dating their older (and taller) lieutenants was the most common thing to witness.

But it wasn't.

Not only would the whole Sereitei die laughing at the image of me with her, but the general would be furious. Who knew what would happen to both of our careers… Who knew how our friends would take the idea of us as something more than just a captain and his subordinate…

…and most importantly, who knew how all this would affect our relationship…

No, I thought, shaking my head and reaching to shut the window. I wasn't ready to risk any of it. I wasn't ready to risk her. I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to be ready to do so.

I heard her sigh behind me and it made my heart sink.

I hoped she could see… how much it hurt me to be right next to her, every day, every damn day, and never, ever be able to touch her. Never be able to even hold her hand. Wasn't that a punishment enough for being such a coward?

I turned around and captured her lips in an avid kiss, my arms wrapping around her slim waist to pull her closer. She instantly became supple in my embrace, her body responding to mine in such perfect synchrony that it made my heart melt. Her hands found my hair, digging through the thick locks and grazing my scalp – a feeling she knew I very much enjoyed.

"Missed me much?" she breathed against my lips and a naughty smile twisted her mouth as she pulled back when I tried to kiss her again. A small whine emitted from my lips before I had had the time to suppress it and Rangiku giggled, her hands dropping on my shoulders loosely as he eyed me up and down.

"That's strange…" she continued her train of thoughts as she played with the hems of the robes that crossed my chest. "You'd think you wouldn't be so needy after having to look at me all day long."

I caught her wrists, steadying them as I started walking forward, pushing her backwards at the same time, my eyes never leaving hers.

"Too much looking, too little touching." I murmured and at that moment the back of her knees hit the sofa and we both collapsed on it, me on top. It wasn't a very comfortable starting position but none of us cared, we just gradually adjusted in the rhythm of our kisses.

Oh, God… I thought as I fought to taste as much from her as I could. Her smooth lips and velvet tongue were moving easily against mine, her hands massaging my scalp as to let me know in between soft gasps that she was mine to do with her as I pleased. A low moan rose in the back of my throat as my brain registered the words and I moved on to kissing her neck fervently, my ministrations almost on the verge of urgency. Was it fear that was driving me? Was it despair? Maybe. Because every time I got to touch and taste her like this, it felt so amazing, so bloody mind-blowing that I couldn't help that small, incredulous part of me that rouse with doubt over whether it was a dream or reality. Whether I was going to wake up any second now, empty handed and cold in my own bed or on my hard, lonely desk.

"Toushiro…" she breathed when I sucked on a particularly sensitive spot I was acknowledged with right below her jaw-line. I could almost see her eyes roll back from the feeling and it made me smirk against her moist, flawless skin. I flickered my tongue over the dully-colored spot I left there and moved down. I didn't feel bad about leaving any hickeys on her – it was Matsumoto Rangiku we were talking about. It would've been weird if she didn't have any. I, on the other hand, was a completely different story. If someone were to see a lovebite on my neck – the news were going to travel around the whole Sereitei in mere hours.

Her hands tugged on the front of my robes and I didn't stop her when she pushed the material down my shoulders, exposing my white skin to her curious fingers to investigate. Her actions faltered though, for just a moment, and she moaned when I attacked her mouth again, kissing her hungrily as my own digits dipped through her garments to feel her flat stomach.

"I don't deserve you…" I heard myself utter. Words that had gone through my head numerous times but that I had never, ever voice up. Words that I hadn't planned on voicing up.

I felt her eyes pierce through me but my mouth covered hers before she had had any time to object. Her hands fisted into the rest of the clothing that covered my torso and in a second I found myself half-naked from waist up. Her body arched into mine as she ground against me more openly than ever and I suddenly realized my knee was pressed firmly between her legs. My first reaction was to withdraw, but her teeth caught my lower lip, keeping me in place as she guided my hands to her chest unambiguously. I groaned pathetically and she released my bruised mouth only to attack my ear – yet another weak place that she had recently discovered.

"You're a fuckin' torture, you know that, right…" I whispered and she chuckled. At that moment my inhibitions crumbled to the ground and I pulled her against me, kissing and nibbling and touching every bit of Rangiku that I could find. Her own fingers left burning traces on my naked skin, her body molding into mine so perfectly I wanted to cry out in pleasure. She whispered my name breathlessly between gasps, destroying every bit of aloofness and self-restrain I had built with such utmost care. Layer by layer until she exposed my darkest desires, my purest fears, my deepest doubts…

My beating heart, my very soul…

Master…

I froze. For a moment there was nothing, none of us moved, even the air was still. Then I pulled back abruptly, crawling backwards to the end of the sofa.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" I repeated, burying my fingers in my hair as my eyes darted across the room, taking into account the thin crusts of frost that had began gathering in the corners, on the furniture and on the potted plants. Matsumoto slowly sat up and looked at me, clearly bemused by my sudden withdraw. My shoulders slumped as I saw her breath come out in small white puffs and I stood up, fetching my robes and throwing them over my bare shoulders as I steadied my gurgling reiatsu.

Yes, the joy of being me... Usually, I was more than perfect at sealing my spiritual pressure, hiding it from enemy forces, keeping the temperature around me normal, etc. But also, I usually wasn't letting my emotions run wild like this, either. It was a problem that was pressing for a solution for quite some time now – was it because I was too young, too inexperienced, was it because I had pushed my limits by achieving ban kai at my age? I wasn't sure, it could be a lot of things, it could be a combination of all of them… But the issue was present – my self-control was slipping at a frightening rate every time I allowed myself to freely feel and it was scaring the hell out of me. I had never, ever in my entire life lost complete hold on my powers and I did not want to risk trying. On one or two occasions I had gone about halfway to that point and the results were ravaging. And at those times I was lucky enough to have space, too… I didn't even want to consider what would happen if something like that occurred in a room, in a house or any other sort of accommodation.

"Toushiro…" Rangiku called when I distanced myself from her and sat on the floor. I sighed, looking up at her with a rueful smile.

"I'm sorry, I-…"

At that moment a loud bang sounded from the front door, followed by Ikkaku's voice:

"Yo, Rangiku, party time, you coming or are you going to ditch again? You know people are gonna start think of you as an old lady if you keep missing on all the fun stuff like that."

My lieutenant rolled her eyes and stood up, fixing her clothes and disheveled hair on her way.

"I'll take care of it." She said with a grin, but I shook my head and stood up as well, heading towards the window.

"No, go, have fun. I don't want to hold you back." I said, giving her a small, encouraging smile of my own. I hope she didn't see through it too easily. I was quite an selfish little thing coming to think about it. I wanted her all for myself, all this perfection and beauty, I didn't want her out drinking on any account, even if she was surrounded by friends (because she had too many male friends for my own liking)… Yes, I had to admit the idea of her senseless binges made my hair prickle.

I let out an almost imperceptible sigh, telling myself to trust her. She had never given me any reasons not to, ever since we became… a "thing". After all… was it really her I was unsure in or was it me? I figured the answer was pretty clear.

With that thought still blazing in my head, I jumped out of the window.

End of Flashback.

A/N: I wanted to update last week but I didn't have the time to finish this. Sorry about that. At least now you have a longer chapter to keep you happy... I hope.

Keep showing me your love and reviewing, your encouragement means a lot to me.

Tell me what you think before you go. :) *Bambi eyes*