Christmas Nightmare
~ Twisting Heart ~

About five minutes after dinner had finished, Ichimaru and Isshin found themselves glancing at the door suddenly. As Rukia glanced up at them, they glanced away. Isshin suddenly stretched and let out a fake yawn. Taking a good look at his son, giving him a very decisive glance, he spoke up rather quickly. "I am rather tired from the duties in the clinic today, so I'll be heading up to bed."

Ichigo, confusion written on his face stared at his father. However, he had gotten the hint and spoke up himself. "I think I am going to go work on my homework."

At that, both of the males headed up the stairs. Gin glanced over at the kitchen, where he could see that Toshiro was absorbed fully in the task of helping the girls with the dishes, so he had yet to notice. He simply went and sat on the couch, his entire body tensing up, wondering why it had to be the wrong time for this to be happening.

Rukia heard the knock on the door and hurried over to answer it, having become used to being part of the Kurosaki family. Ichimaru could hear her voice all the way from the couch. "Matsumoto-san?"

"I'm sorry for showing up like this, but I heard from Ise-san that taicho was here. I rather need to talk to him." This caused Ichimaru to flinch, his eyes opening in frustration. Glancing over at where Toshiro was, he could see that the small taicho stopping to pop his head up. However, his head darted back down despite the fact he had tensed up himself. He may not have heard Matsumoto, but he could now feel her reiatsu.

Rangiku stepped into the room, her eyes suddenly darting over to where Ichimaru was. She let out a deep sigh and walked over, sitting down on the couch. Glancing into the kitchen, she could slightly see Toshiro at the sink with the two girls. As she bent over, Ichimaru spoke up. "I really need to talk to you about something."

The female paused for a second, then turned to him. Her face lacked the anger that she had when she has seen him earlier, but it was replaced with a rather pained look. Her eyes were filled with a high level of disappointment. "I'm not ready to talk to you Gin, so please don't even try. Taicho is actually enjoying himself around children his age, so I don't want to lose it with you right now, not in front of them."

At that, Gin opened his mouth, but then closed it. He watched as Toshiro glanced up, the child also having a pained look in his eyes, but for a different reason. "Matsumoto?"

"Hello." Rangiku almost called her small captain by his title, but paused, thinking about the fact that while Karin knew about the rank, the other sister of Ichigo did not. "I need to talk to you about something Hitsugaya."

"Well, maybe I don't want to talk to you. Ever think that I am still mad at you?" Toshiro stated, taking a plate from Karin and drying it so that Yuzu could put it away.

"Shiro-chan..." Gin's voice indicated that he didn't approve of the boy's behavior.

Letting out a sigh, Hitsugaya handed another dish to Yuzu. "Can I finish helping Karin and Yuzu-chan with the dishes?"

At that, Matsumoto blinked a couple of times, but a content smile spread on her face. Leaning on the couch arm, she spoke up. "I don't mind."

After a few minutes, the threesome finished and Rukia ushered the two girls upstairs so that the three could have a more private conversation. Toshiro wiped off his hands and walked over to the couch. "What do you want Matsumoto?"

"Shiro-chan... you could speak to her nicer." Ichimaru commented, his eyes open and indicating that he didn't' like the fact that the situation between the three of them in truth was not a good one.

At that, Rangiku let out a deep sigh. "I'm used to him talking to me like this though. He's mad at me, so his curt responses are justified. He is my taicho, is he not?"

"I'm your taicho. The response is respected." Toshiro looked at her, the hurt look on his face worsening. "Matsumoto, you really don't get it, do you?"

"I understand that you were unhappy that I forgot your birthday." Rangiku tried smiling at the small taicho, only to have him glare at her, his eyes showing a great deal of hurt. At that, she reached into the bag she had with her and pulled out a package wrapped in blue paper. She held the package out to him. "I promise, I'll try not to forget from now on."

"I don't want it." Hitsugaya snapped out, his mood suddenly darkening.

"Chibi-taicho, be nice." Ichimaru stated, only to receive a sudden glare from Rangiku.

However, Toshiro's next words caused her to look at the boy taicho in shock. "You don't get it Matsumoto. I don't want birthday gifts from you."

"Taicho. If you could explain why you are so upset..." The woman found herself quickly interrupted.

"You would understand if you were polite enough to listen to what Ichimaru has to say to you. You're letting your pride get in the way." Toshiro snapped out, his cheeks beginning too puff out.

"You do realize that you are doing the same thing to me?" Rangiku sighed, leaning suddenly on the side.

"I am not! What I have to say to you! What I am upset about! It is tied into what Gin has to say! I can't tell you, until you listed to him!" At that, the white haired child suddenly turned and headed for the front door. It opened up and there was a loud slam.

Ichimaru let out a deep sigh. "There is something important that I need to talk to you about Ran-chan."

"I told you, I don't want to talk to you right now about that." Matsumoto snapped out.

Gin opened his eyes, his face indicating the fact that he wasn't happy with her. "You said that you weren't wanting to talk while Toshiro was around with the girls, because you don't want to embarrass him."

"I said I would lose my temper if you kept this up and I didn't want to lose it in front of them." Rangiku stated.

"I'm fine with you not talking to me, Matsumoto." Ichimaru's words had a strange feel to them. "However, your small taicho is not. As long as I am not able to speak to you about this, he's going to throw a fit every time you talk to him. This is important to him."

The busty female turned to glare at him, her eyes filled with fury. "I am going to go speak with taicho. I am worried about him."

"The kid can take care of himself. He's just mad at you." Ichimaru muttered. However, Rangiku got up and walked out of the house after her small taicho. The man found himself frustrated, knowing he shouldn't at that point go after either of them. "That woman... sometimes... sometimes." However, he stopped, closing his eyes.

M

As the door slammed behind the small taicho, he could feel the chill of the night air and suddenly found himself wishing that he had grabbed a jacket. He crossed his arms, shivering as he did so. "I hate her. I hate her, I hate her, I hate her."

"You don't hate her." Hyorinmaru spoke up. "Truth of the matter is, you love your mother very much, which is why you hate the fact that none of this is going the way that you want it too."

At that, the small taicho began to pace, not knowing what to do about the situation. "Gin promised me he would tell her. He promised. I don't want to be the one to tell her. It feels wrong. If she were to find out from me... it wouldn't be right." Still shivering, he stuck his hands into his pocket, suddenly pausing as his fingers felt a particular object.

Pulling it out, he remembered that he had stuck the Christmas present that Gin had bought for him to give to Rangiku. The plan had been to stick it under the Christmas tree with the other packages he had brought, however, he had placed it into his pants pocket and forgotten about it At that, he leaned up against the wall, staring at the package, his eyes filled with grief.

"It's not fair." His teal eyes though, darted up as he heard the door open up.

"Taicho?" Matsumoto stepped out. "I am really sorry for upsetting you like that. I don't understand though, why talking to Ichimaru is important to you. Is that what you are upset about?"

At that, the small taicho found the words spilling from his mouth as he tried telling her the one thing that he didn't wish to tell her. "I am not upset with you because you refuse to speak to Gin. I am not upset with you because you forgot my birthday Matsumoto."

"If it isn't those things, then what is it?" Rangiku sighed, hugging herself tightly, watching as her small taicho shivered. She was tempted to offer her small jacket, but knew he wouldn't be happy about that.

"I'm not a replacement Matsumoto. End of story!" The small taicho waved his hand to the side, cutting the air with frustration.

"Gin... Gin promised that he would tell you." The female suddenly found herself paling.

Toshiro looked at her, his eyes beginning to well up. "He didn't' tell me, Rangiku. I guessed, all right."

At that, Rangiku let out a deep breath of air, trying to think of how to word what she was trying to say. "Taicho... I never thought of you as a replacement. I..."

"Shut up!" Toshiro swung his hand again, his frustration growing. "If you had just talked to Ichimaru, you would understand what the problem was. That stupid idiot. I hate the both of you! You know why? Because there are so many things that both of you could have done better, but your both way too stubborn to notice what is important."

"Taicho..." Matsumoto paused, knowing he wasn't finished.

"I'm sick of this. I tried waiting and waiting for the two of you to solve your problems, but neither one of you takes the needed steps." At that, Rangiku found Toshiro shoving something towards her. "I don't care if the stupid gift has some stupid perverted meaning to it. I'm washing my hands of both of you. Maybe you'll be mad for no good reason at me too then, huh?"

At that, Rangiku let out a sigh, her nail sliding the paper open and pulling out the jewelry box and clicking it open. Her eyes took in the small charm at the end of the necklace, a very small person, a male to be exact. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes going wide with horror and realization hitting her of what was going on. "Topaz... taicho..."

"He said that you would get the meaning of that stupid necklace. I only see it as having some perverted meaning, because that is a restroom sign symbol and topaz means fidelity and love. I know Ichimaru likes his jokes, but this one went to far, right? So you're mad at me too now and you won't be talking to me either, right? For something so small and so stupid?"

"Taicho... you don't know what a birthstone is?" Matsumoto stated, her eyes suddenly pained, the realization hitting her harder then she wanted.

"He told me to guess, like it was some puzzle for me to solve! I wanted to know what that was, but I definitely do not want to know now. I told you, I don't want anything to do with you?" Two teal eyes looked up at her, his eyes dampening. "I hate you. I hate the both of you." At that, the small taicho moved away from her, getting out of her site fast, hiding his reiatsu from her.