Thanks to all of you that have read.

To BulletWitch1985 I didn't mean for it to look like Hitsugaya sent Matsumoto to spy on Rukia. It was more like Matsumoto was persuading him to let her spy on Rukia. She was doing it for him but also so she could get out of doing her paper work.

Anyway, Enjoy! And review!

Matsumoto's POV

ARE YOU SIERIOUS?! OH, MY GOSH, OH, MY GOSH, THINGS ARE TOTALLY NOT GOING AS PLANNED! I looked over towards Captain and I noticed his face looked sad.

"What did you just say?!" I practically screamed at her.

"Wait that came out wrong!" she tried to reassure me.

"How does something like that come out wrong?!"

"Wait let me explain this! It was when Renji and I were still kids!" I saw captain brighten up a bit. "It was when our friends had started to die…"

Normal POV

"Rukia, we should head back now, it's starting to get dark."

"Yeah, let's go, Renji." Little Rukia and little Renji left the grave of their friend and headed to their 'home'.

They entered the small abandoned building that was their home.

"Renji, do we have any food?"

"Yeah, but there's blearily any left. We have to go look for more before the winter gets here. It's really close."

Next week

"Hey, you kids! Give that back!"

"Run faster Renji! He's catching up!"

"I'm running as fast as I can!"

They were both panting hard and the cold was starting to take its toll on them. They were close to escaping when Renji tripped. Rukia turned around and saw that the man that was chasing them was about to pick Renji up. She dropped the stolen food and tackled the man to the ground, away from Renji. She did her best to hold the weak man down but it was still difficult for her.

"Renji, run away, now! Take the food, I'll try to catch up with you later!"

"But…!"

"Just go already!"

He got up and picked up the food they had dropped. He ran away, hoping that Rukia would be ok. When he got to their home he got worried. Rukia still wasn't back. He put the food inside then went back to find her. When he got back to where they were, she wasn't there. He left and went to the stand where they had stolen the food. When he got there he was shocked. Rukia was tied up with rope. The man that they stole from was talking to some creepy looking people. One of the creepy guys gave the man some money. The man threw Rukia to one of them and they started to leave. Renji recognized one of the men. Renji had seen that man kidnap one of his friends. When they found her, she was barely alive. She told Renji the things that they had done to her. He started to panic; he didn't want those things to happen to Rukia.

He followed the men to a building. He waited till it was dark to sneak in. He looked for Rukia and it took him a long time, but he found her. She was barely conscious. When she saw him, she smiled. He could tell they had done terrible things to her just by looking at her. He started to get furious. He held in his anger and went to untie her but he was caught. The men started to attack him but he fought back. While he fought all he could think of was Rukia and how much they had hurt her. His anger fueled him and he easily defeated the men. When there was only a few left he lost control and started kicking them into the support pillars of the building. The pillars were weak so the building started to crumble. He stopped fighting and rushed to Rukia. He took her into his arms and protected her from the falling debris. When everything went still, he threw the debris off his back. He looked down at Rukia and was relieved when he saw she wasn't hurt any worse than she already had been.

"You came back for me, why?"

"Because… I just did."

They stayed like that for a while, in each other's arms, in the crumbled building, in the dark.

"Renji, promise never to leave me like that ever again? Even if I tell you to?"

"Yeah, do you?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"That's not a strong enough promise. We need something that'll make us stay together. I know," he said then started looking around in the rubble. "Give me your hand." She gave him her hand. He slid a small, crushed metal ring onto her ring finger. "When we're old enough, will you marry me?"

Rukia smiled. "Yeah!"

Matsumoto's POV

"That was such a sad and romantic story!" I said as I started to cry. "Wait, are you two actually going to get married?"

"I don't think so. When we entered the academy we grew apart. We started to get close again but we aren't as close as we used to be. Besides, that was when we were kids. I'm sure he's forgotten that promise by now." I was relieved when she said that. I looked over at Captain and saw he wasn't gloomy anymore. Then I looked over at Rukia-chan and saw that she looked sad. That's when I started to feel bad. But, then again, Renji had a lot of time to ask out or propose, in this case, to Rukia-chan. Now it is Captain's turn to be happy with her. I'll make sure of it.

It was silent for a while then there was a knock at the door. I looked over at Captain.

"Who is it?" asked Captain.

"It's me, Ukitake," came a whisper.

Captain looked over at Rukia-chan. She nodded and went behind the door.

"Come in, Ukitake."

He came in. Rukia-chan looked over at me from behind the door. Tackle him down! She mouthed.

"Thanks for…" I tackled him and pinned him down to the floor. "What the…!"

"Now, Rukia-chan!" I told her.

Ukitake gasped.

"I told you not to hide from me! You have to take your medication or you'll only get worse!" Rukia said in the creepy way she did with Kiyone and Sentaro. It sent chills down my spine. We struggled for a while longer, but we finally did it.

Ukitake laid on the ground for a while longer, then got up to leave. When he was out the door, I remembered something.

"Wait, Ukitake-taicho, I have to talk to you! Hey, Rukia-chan, you and Captain should go for a walk. You look tired Captain, you could use a walk!" I said as I started to leave and chase after Ukitake.

Toshiro's POV

That Matsumoto! She would just leave like that! When she comes back, I'm going to make sure she does all of her paper work!

"Um, Hitsugaya-taicho," I heard Rukia say in a soft voice.

I turned to face her. "Yes, what is it?"

"Um, I think Matsumoto is right. You look a bit stressed and tired." I was silent. Does… does she care about me?! She started to look panicked. "Um, it was just my opinion! I didn't mean anything by it!" She bowed. "I should be heading back to the 13th division." She started to turn to leave.

"Wait!"

She looked shocked. "Yes?"

"I am feeling a bit tired. I think I should go for a walk. Could you come with? It would be nice to have some company."

She thought about it then she smiled. "I would love to come along!"

Matsumoto's POV

"What was it you wanted to talk about, lieutenant Matsumoto?"

"Well you see… how do I explain this? If it tell you, you have to promise not to tell a soul."

He looked interested. He thought about it. "I promise not to tell anyone."

"Well, you see, recently I found out that my captain is in love with…" I got closer then I whispered, "Rukia-chan!"

He looked so shocked then he smiled. "It's about time! He's so young and he deserves to act like a kid his own age. But I'm not so sure about Rukia."

"Why's that?"

"Well, you see, she… she doesn't like opening her heart up to people. She usually keeps to herself. Especially with things like love because of what happened to…"

"Kaien, I know. And I also know about how she doesn't like to open her heart up. It took me forever just to get her to talk to me. After we knew each other for a couple of years, she told me about Kaien."

"That reminds me, how did you two meet. She seems really close to you and I never knew you two were friends until recently."

"It was when I was making a visit to the academy. I had to speak to some of the classes and she caught my eye. I saw this look in her eyes. I knew by looking into them that she was lonely. So, I made it my mission to make her smile, to make her happy. When I was finished with her class I stopped her on her way out. I talked to her but she barely talked back to me. After that day I would sneak into the academy to talk to her. It took forever but she finally started talking to me. We became so close. I saw her true self. She would laugh and smile and act kinda like a little girl. But then, I came one day and she wasn't there. I asked some of the people there and they told me that she had already left the academy and entered the gotei 13. I was shocked. I looked for her. When I found her, she was back to how she was when I met her. I still tried talking to her but it wasn't the same."

"When did she tell you about Kaien?"

"I was training in the woods. When I was done I went for a walk. That was when it started to rain. I was too far away from any building so I stayed under a tree. That's when I heard it. It was someone crying. I followed the sound and I found Rukia-chan. She was on her knees, crying. I went to her and asked her what was wrong. She looked up at me then hugged me. She was like a little kid. She cried and cried then she told me. She told me what happened on that same spot and day a couple years back."

"It was the anniversary of Kaien's death."

"Yeah, and every year on that day, I'd find her crying in that same spot. And with Captain, he always looks so lonely. Even on the day I found him in an orphanage in Junrinan. That's why I thought that if I get Rukia-chan to fall in love with him, he'd be happy and maybe he wouldn't look so lonely anymore."

"And maybe Rukia wouldn't look so lonely if she was with Toshiro. Maybe she'd even be more open towards people! Lieutenant Matsumoto, I think I will help you with your plan."

"Yes, that would make things go by a lot faster! "

"What do you want me to do?"

"First we have to get them to spend a lot of time with each other."

"I think I can do that. I'll have her deliver all the 10th division paper work I'll be sending. I can also have her send messages from 13th to 10th division."

"That's good, that'll make things go real fast. Oh, yeah, I also have to ask you some questions about her."

"All right, go ahead and ask me."

I took a folded piece of paper out from my shihakusho and unfolded it. I started reading the questions out loud.

"First question: Where did Rukia grow up?"

"She grew up in the 78th district of Rukongai."

"WHAT?! If I'm right, that's Inuzuri!"

"Yes, you are correct. I was shocked too. I originally thought she was born into the Kuchiki Clan."

"How could someone that small, survive in a place like Inuzuri?"

"I don't know, but she did have Renji."

"Wow, she's pretty tough for a little midget. Anyway question two: What is her favorite thing in the whole…?"

"Chappy the Rabbit," he replied confidently. "She is obsessed with anything Chappy the Rabbit."

"Question three: Currently, who is her closest friend?"

"I'd have to say Ichigo."

I continued to ask him questions and he continued to answer them. I wrote down all the answers next to their questions. When I was finished I said goodbye and he did too. He told me he'd start sending her to the 10th division more often and I was grateful for the extra help.

I can't wait to see if my plan will all work out. It would be nice to see both Captain and Rukia-chan smile more.