Summary
Kagome's found her new best friend. Rangiku's found a new drinking buddy. Miroku stalks. And Hitsugaya might just kill them all, if Byakuya doesn't do it first.
A/N: I know several of you have wondered how this meeting would turn out, so here we go!
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"I'm not that fragile, Miroku! So I have a very mild case of tuberculosis that will go away in a few days! Big deal!" Kagome huffed, not liking how carefully the monk manuvered her around people in the Rukon District. This was supposed to be a stress-free outing for her, as Captain Unohana had restricted her to a few days of rest after her entire debacle at the medical clinic. It had been almost a week, and she'd seen Captain Ukitake twice, with her own Captain present, as he checked her over and gave her some herbal tea to drink twice a day. It was a blend that was supposed to help strengthen her immune system and he'd instructed her very carefully on how to prepare it.
"I understand that you are hardier than everyone else gives you credit for, but that doesn't mean we don't worry, all the same," her dark-haired companion replied gently, trying not to further agitate the already annoyed former time traveler.
"Yeah yeah, I get it already," she waved off his excuses, took a deep breath, and centered herself again. She'd been on pins and needles since the incident, and it was with a sense of shame that she realized she'd snapped at Miroku for nothing on several occasions recently. Helping her put things away on a high shelf. Lingering nearby in case she needed someone to carry something. Spying on her in the bathrooms... Well, that last one, he'd deserved getting thrown through the window for. It was a few minutes before her old friend spoke again.
"... By the way, why are we in Rukongai today? I thought Lord Kuchiki insisted on you doing nothing for the duration of your... ailment?" The question was asked with a sense that he didn't really care what the answer would be, as he wasn't truly paying much attention to the conversation in the first place. Kagome sent him a look out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he was following the hips of some girl to his right. She rolled her eyes. The man never changed.
"Because he asked me to run an errand for him out here and to 'enjoy my time out, as the weather will be changing soon'," the priestess replied, absently reaching out and pinching her lecherous companion's cheek. He gasped in pain and flinched. Good. That would keep him on track. "Besides, I like Rukongai. It's not stifling like the Sereitei."
"Indeed. I must say that I agree with you. In fact, I think Rukongai suits-!" Miroku froze up, horror filling him when, in his scan of delectable women, he came across a brunette that looked achingly familiar. That hair... Those hips! It had to be-!
'I can't let her see me!' he thought, looking around frantically for something to distract Kagome with. She was giving hiim an odd look.
"Miroku? Are you-!"
"Oh look! A tea shop! And all of their produce is organic!" He commented swiftly, taking the flabbergasted girl by the arm and dragging her over to the small quiant shop. Pushing the door open, he disregarded the cheerful chime, waved at a waitress, and set his old friend down at a table. "Why don't you order something and I'll be right back!"
"Whu-! Wait! Miroku! Where-!" It was too late. The monk had already zoomed out of the store and hadn't heard a word she'd managed to say. Her server was a girl that was a little younger than her with a bemused expression on her face.
"Anything I can get you?"
"... Yeah. A shinai to beat my former best friend over the head with until he comes to his senses," the shinigami growled, her right eye developing a slight twitch. Her murderous expression smoothed into something sheepish when the other girl giggled helplessly and suggested a cup of a blended tea that helped reduce stress and relax her nerves. With a sigh and a nod, the priestess accepted.
Several minutes later, Kagome muttered something ugly under her breath as she nursed her tea and glared at nothing in particular. If Miroku had wanted to go chasing after some girl, all he had to do was say so. He didn't have to make stuff up just because he thought she wouldn't understand!
'He's the worst escort ever.' She finally sighed, though, and leaned back in her chair. At least she didn't have to worry about much of anything at the moment. Sitting back in this tea shop was rather relaxing.
Twenty minutes later, and still no sign of the slick monk anywhere, though, she was starting to get agitated. And depressed. Leaning onto the table, the priestess absently pushed her cup aside and let out a loud breath that moved her bangs a little. This... was boring. Twisting a long strand of hair that had come undone from her ribbon of the day, a white one, she huffed, pulled the tail loose, and put it back up properly.
'Did he forget about me?' This was one of those times where she was just considering leaving and making the man run around in a panic and find her. Chances were, though, that he wouldn't catch up to her for several more hours. 'I'm not waiting here for him that long!'
She didn't feel the long fingers slide up her ribbon's length, but she did feel it when it was pulled out of her hair, causing the long strands to cascade down her back erratically.
"Wha-! Hey!" She only knew of one person that had the audacity to do that to her! Turning, she was ready to give that person the third degree. "Captain! If you don't stop stealing my hair ribbons, I'm gonna... get..." The person she faced wasn't, in fact, her arrogant Captain. It was a woman. A woman with long wavy strawberry blonde hair, cornflower blue eyes that were sparkling mischeviously, and an enormous pair of breasts that looked ready to pop out of her shihakusho top with the slightest provocation.
"That's better! You're much cuter when you've got a glint in your eyes!" she chirped, waving the pearly white ribbon around in a teasing manner before giving it back to the younger girl. "Now... What's got you so down that you looked like you were about to cry?"
"Ah-! I just-!" Who was this woman! Kagome fumbled for something to say while her new "friend" plopped down in the seat across from hers, a playful smile on her lips as she watched the priestess flounder. "It's... I... Who are you anyway?" Finally settling for sullenness, she crossed her arms and pouted a little.
"Oh! I guess I should tell you my name. It's Rangiku. Rangiku Matsmoto," the blonde grinned, reaching out a hand and grasping one of Kagome's before shaking it heartily. "Now, you have to tell me yours. It's only fair!"
"Ah... Kagome... Higurashi. That's my name," the younger girl grumbled, slightly put out by Rangiku's sneakiness. She'd manuvered herself into chatting with this stranger! The busty woman was much more sly than she let on.
"Well, Kagome? How come you're here all by yourself?"
"I... got sick recently, and I've been told to take it easy until I recover. My friend that was with me ran off to go chase girls, or something, and now I'm just stuck here waiting." Rangiku clucked her tongue and signaled the server over before requesting a jug of sake and two cups.
"Well, I know exactly what to do to make you feel better." The jug was set down in front of them and Kagome blinked as her new friend happily poured the alcohol.
"... Sake?"
"Yep! It's good stuff too!"
"I don't know..."
"Come on! Be a rebel and tell me about yourself!"
Kagome smiled a little and decided. What could it hurt?
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She learned that Rangiku was not only the Lieutenant of Squad 10, but a rowdy drinker as well, which got them kicked out of the tea shop fairly quickly. The older woman merely complained at the lack of manners before looping an arm through Kagome's and dragging her off while she chattered about meeting a few friends of hers. Friends that would help her "loosen up and have some fun!" as she put it.
"As soon as we find Shuuhei, we'll take him with us and go get Ikkaku too! It's not a party without him!" the blonde explained, a flush on her cheeks from the alcohol as she grinned at a somewhat wary Kagome. She'd been considerate and taken the first cup of sake, and it had warmed her insides nicely, but she didn't want to get roaring drunk this early in the afternoon. Rangiku had no such qualms. "Maybe, if we can find Izuru, he'll come along, and the rest of the gang too!"
The priestess nodded as though she undestood, but the only person she recognized from the names that were rattled off was Ikkaku, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be drunk around him. He might accidentally take her back to Kenpachi or something. The two women turned the corner and the taller one gasped in excitement when she spotted a man not too far away from them.
"Shuuhei! Shuuhei! Look Shuuhei!" Rangiku shouted happily, bouncing over to the man with Kagome in tow. He turned to face them, and the priestess was struck by the fact that, despite the odd tattoos, and the scars running down one side of his face, this Shuuhei guy was still pretty good-looking.
'Not as yummy as the Captain, though,' a traitorous voice whispered across her senses, and she shook her head. Today was about not thinking of the unattainable noble!
"Look at what Rangiku found!"
"... Why is Rangiku talking about herself in the third person?" Shuuhei asked, though he was a little afraid to find out. By the way the busty blonde was moving alone, he could tell she'd already had a couple of drinks. And she'd somehow caught some poor innocent girl in her trap too.
"Because Rangiku thinks it's cute!"
"Well, Shuuhei thinks it's stupid."
"You're no fun until you're drinking, you know that Shuuhei?" the Squad 10 Lieutenant pouted before presenting the girl under her arm to the man. "This is Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, this is Shuuhei Hisagi, the Lieutenant of Squad 9. We're going to make her forget all of her problems for tonight, okay?"
"Wait-!" WE?"
"Yes! You're going to help, Shuuhei!"
"Really. And how would I be helping?" The man had a sneaking supsicion of how he was going to help this poor girl.
"You're buying the drinks, of course!" Rangiku announced like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She nodded when he gave her a hard look, then smiled up at him in a cutesy way. "Pleeeeeaseeeee Shuuuuuuheeeeeiiiiii!"
He was falling for it. Hook, line, and sinker.
Kagome shook her head. This guy didn't stand a chance.
"... Fine."
"Yay! We're getting drunk tonight Kagome! Let's go find the others too!" Snatching the suddenly weary Shuuhei's wrist, the blonde woman proceeded to drag her two companions off in search of other people to get involved.
This was how Miroku found his old friend later; squished between a loud Rangiku and a chortling Ikkaku as he argued with the other woman. Kagome seemed a little apprehensive, but the flush across her cheeks denoted to the fact that she was just quietly getting herself drunk out of her mind.
"Kagome! Where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you for hours!" the monk snapped, reaching out and pulling the former time traveler to her feet. "Did you forget you have a curfew!" He found himself on the pointy end of at least four different swords. The three Lieutenants present, Rangiku, Hisagi, and Izuru Kira, plus Ikkaku, were all eyeing him with a sense that he was a danger to their youngest friend.
"Mi-Mirokuuuu! I waited foreeeeeverrrrrr for youuuuuu to coooomeee backkk! Where-Where were youu!" Kagome slurred out, looking about as intimidating as a kitten as she glared up at him. The holy man finally sighed and let her go, but steered her upright before she fell over.
"I apologize. I never meant to leave you waiting so long," he murmured quietly, still a little wary of all the weapons pointed in his direction. They were lowered a little, but one wrong move would set them all off if he wasn't careful. Which was the entire reason why he didn't immediately reach out and grope the busty blonde woman that his old friend had made an acquaintance of. "I thought... I thought I saw someone that we knew, and had to investigate."
"Who?" He didn't want the others to hear, so he leaned over and whispered in the intoxicated girl's ear.
"... Sango." A sharp breath was all he heard before he was nose-to-nose with a very determined looking priestess.
"Did you see her? Did you find out who it was? Was she carrying her boomerang, because I think I would have noticed her if she did? Did you get to talk to her? Was she-!"
"Kagome! It wasn't her."
"Oh..." the shinigami deflated in sadness and slumped back over to the table to be consoled by her new friends. Kira offered her a full cup of sake, which she accepted and downed quickly before coughing spastically and thumping her chest. Rangiku patted her head and told her everything would be okay. Hisagi's strong quiet prescence merely helped ease the pain, even if he didn't say anything. Ikkaku told her to drink some more because that would make her forget all of her worries. Miroku watched the scene and had to admit, a couple cups of sake did sound nice right now. Approaching the table cautiously, he inquired if he could join them.
"Sure Miroku! Have a seat and buy a couple of jugs!" Kagome replied, sliding over and yanking him down in between her and Rangiku. "Guys, this is an old friend of mine! His name's Miroku, and he's like a big brother to me! I love him with all my heart cause he's family!" The others, after a moment to consider, happily welcomed the shocked monk into their fold.
Miroku shrugged and filled up. It wouldn't be a big deal if they were only an hour late for their curfew. Would it?
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A loud peal of laughter that he instantly recognized honed him in on his target. This time, there would be ablsolutely no escape! With an aura to match the Arctic itself, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad 10, made a beeline for the back corner of the bar. His sights were set on a rambunctious blonde woman that was regaling a tale that everyone at the table thought was horrendously amusing, and he grit his teeth in preparation of dealing with his lackadaisal subordinate.
"Matsumotooooo!" Everyone at the table froze and slowly turned to face the highly irritated child prodigy of the Court Guard Squads. The silence was broken by none other than Rangiku herself, whom swooped down and scooped the younger boy up in a tight embrace. It smushed him against her ample bosom, and he twitched visibly.
"Captaiiiiin! What are you doing here?" From the looks of it, Kagome could only sympathize with the white-haired boy that looked ready to choke the busty woman clinging to him.
"MMMMPPHH! MMPPPHHHH!"
"Huh? I can't understand you!" the Lieutenant cocked her head to the side, and Kagome finally took pity on the boy as she reached out and pulled him away from the older woman. He took several deep lungfuls of air, face red and livid as a tick developed rapidly in his eye.
"Looking. For. You."
"Hmmm? But why?" The kid exploded.
"You still haven't finished last week's paperwork, and this week's is piling up! I am not doing it for you!"
"Awwwww! But it's soooo booooriiiing!" Rangiku slurred. Hitsugaya faced the rest of the table and plunked himself down almost wearily.
"I give up. I'm sick of trying to make you be mature."
"... There's a time for mature and serious, but there's also a time to relax and let go," Kagome murmured, startling the younger boy. He blinked at her and met with an equally intense stare. Those pretty blue eyes knew a lot more than she was letting on. "It's okay to have fun sometimes. Too much work makes you forget you're young, Captain..."
"Hitsugaya. Toshiro Hitsugaya," he replied, feeling his cheeks heat up. This girl... maybe she was different... "And you are?"
"Kagome Higurashi. Squad 6." She nodded, then proceeded to fling her arms around the shocked boy. "You are just toooooooo cuuuuute!" Miroku scrabbled to pry the priestess off of him and finally decided that it was time to head home.
"As much fun as this has been, my friend and I were due back at Squad 6 quite some time ago," the monk itterated, rising to his feet shakily and leading a giggled Kagome away from a red-faced Toshiro Hitsugaya. Rangiku was immediately at their side, babbling about how she should go with them, because it wasn't proper for a nice girl like Kagome to walk home with a cad like Miroku. Said cad took offense and tried to go for a grope. He was smacked down. Literally. And Rangiku toted the intoxicated priestess away. Had the others been a little more sober, they all would have been up and after the pervert for attempting to take advantage of the busty blonde.
About two minutes later, Hitsugaya was seething again because, somehow, someway, his Lieutenant had put that poor girl up to the entire scene. He just knew it!
"I'll tie her to her chair and shove her paperwork down her throat!"
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The current head of the prestigious Kuchiki family refused to admit that he was even slightly worried. He wasn't pacing just inside the barracks of Squad 6 because a certain priestess and her escort monk hadn't shown up like they were supposed to after their day out in the Rukon District. It was several hours after dark, far past the time he'd set for Miroku to bring Kagome back. He Was. Not. Worried.
'Who do I think I'm fooling? Of course I'm worried!' He didn't have to admit it to anyone, though.
The laughter alerted him first long before their voices became distinguishable. What he did manage to hear, though, made him clench his teeth and slowly count to twenty in his head. Twice. He was going to kill Miroku.
"But Gomeeeee! I think Captain Hitsugaya would definitely go out with you! You should at least give him a chance!" Rangiku giggled, wrapping an arm over the younger girl's shoulder and leaning on her. Her cleavage came dangerously close to spilling out of her top and Miroku's "cursed" hand twitched in a reflexive movement.
"I don't know, Rangiku-san I already... like someone else! That... would be mean... to him!" the other girl hiccupped, dropping back into a slightly more formal way of address with all the alcohol in her system. She pushed away from the other woman and sloshed into Miroku accidentally. "Besides... He re-re-reminds me of a miiiiiniiiii Shess-shom-maru-sama!"
"That's... a terrifying... thought..." Mirokue managed to get out in between giggling insanely and shaking in pure undiluted fear.
"It's not... not this guy, is it?" the blonde asked, thumbing the monk holding Kagome up as she swayed. The priestess let out a high pitched giggle and shook her head so fast that she immediately felt dizzy.
"Noooooo... Not him! He's just... like a brother... to meee." This was how Byakuya found them just inside the gates to the Squad 6 barracks. All he had to do was take one look at the three of them and he knew exactly what had happened. He was going to kill Matsumoto too. In fact, he'd probably kill the troublesome blonde first.
"Then whooo is it?"
"Weeeeelll..."
His right eye almost twitching in fury, he plucked the drunken prietess out of Miroku's arms. She immediately latched onto him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest; right where his heart was beating rapidly. In a way, he wanted to know who she liked; but he also realized that if she told, then she'd regret it tomorrow when she was sober. "Captaaaaaiiinnnn! Hoooow aaaree youuuu?"
If he had the power to reverse time, Byakuya would have stopped Kagome from leaving the Squad 6 barracks today and confined her to an indoor activity such as... oh, paperwork? Sadly, things did not go his way, and he was seriously considering a mass homocide at this point.
"You," he hissed at Miroku, whom had the decency to whimper in terror, "are supposed to take care of her! You were supposed to be back hours ago!" He pointed at a swaying Kagome as she giggled delightedly and played with the end of his scarf and completely ignoring the hissy fit he was throwing. "And you," he continued, glaring visciously at the busty blonde pouting in front of him, "will not ever get my subordinate drunk again! Are. We. Clear. Matsumoto." It had not been a request.
"You're so stern, Captain Kuchiki," Rangiku whined, hiccuping slightly in emotion, "She obviously needed to get away from all the stress, and she looked absolutely miserable sitting in that tea shop by herself!"
"You tried to set her up with your Captain!" Byakuya ground out, a tick finally developing in his right eye at the thought. No one was going to set Higurashi up with anyone, if he could help it!
"They would have been cute together!" the blonde Lieutenant argued, looking up at the sky and smiling dreamily, "I can see it now! Cute little kids with white hair and stick up their-!"
"Lieutenant? You're making it worse," Miroku murmured, eyeing her cleavage with a hint of longing. He received a slap upside the head courtesy of an irate Byakuya.
"Say what you want, monk, but I still think Captain Hitsugaya and little Kagome-chan would have been-!"
"MATSUMOTOOOO!" Said formerly mentioned Captain suddenly burst through the door, breathing heavily and snarling at the tall blonde, "If you don't come with me right now I'll make you do paperwork until-!" The small Captain suddenly cut himself off as a drunken Kagome flung herself at him with a squeal and started rubbing his hair with her cheek. Byakuya looked less than thrilled with the entire debacle.
"You're just sooooo cute, Toshiro-chan!" the priestess cooed, hugging the boy to her chest in a death grip. Toshiro Hitsugaya had never been more embarrassed in his life and flushed darkly at being pressed so close to such a cute girl. "I know! I'm going to adopt you! You'll be my new little brother!" A cute girl that didn't see him as anything more than a younger sibling.
He hated being so damn young looking.
For his part, Byakuya merely twitched and reached for his Zanpakuto. If he had to, he would kill all of them and whisk Kagome away.
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A/N: Next chapter up hopefully soon! Sorry about the long wait, but, that's life. As always, I appreciate reviews.