It Takes Time
By: Le tired
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters, blah blah blah, etc.
Rated: T for some language and…stuff?
Author's Notes: I have no excuses. I'm just the slowest story updater in the world. Hah my goal now is to finish this fic before Tite Kubo finishes Bleach. That should give me some time. Thanks for everyone's patience. You're all so nice to me!
30CK: Your reviews always make me feel so good. Thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
kriitikko: Thank you, I really appreciate you still following me!
Writing bunny: Many thanks. Keeping them in character was one of my top priorities when I started writing this. I think it'll get even harder when the romance really starts going since they both strike me as characters that express emotions through their actions more than their words.
sagitgirlth: Once again, thank you for following the fic! I swear I'll update again soon!
Seynee: Haha I'm glad you got the humor. And I agree, moar HitsuMatsu!
Brandie Hitsugaya: Yeah I know :(. The anime had his eyes red for his fight with Hitsugaya since I guess the manga hadn't shown their color yet (see Bleach Wiki for the screenshot). Sucks when that happens. I guess I could go back and change it in the chapters…or I could just be lazy and stick with red :P. It'll largely depend on what else I write about Gin later.
Prince of Winter Dragons: Thanks! My next chapter is actually in Hitsugaya's POV. It'll be fun to see if I'm able to keep him in character. I love him, but he's so serious and quiet compared to Matsumoto, so I bet it's going to be a lot of inner monologue.
Bishounenchaser: I love re-reading fics, so that's a huge compliment for me. Thank you and hope you like this chapter!
Ice Prince Hitsugaya: Thank you, I'm glad it was a good read for you!
Chapter 8
After that rather personal talk, Matsumoto had no idea how the rest of the night was going to turn out. From the clenched set of his jaw, she could tell Hitsugaya was feeling tense. She didn't blame him. First he got abruptly asked out to dinner, and then he's interrogated on aspects of his life he's probably never shared with anyone else. No doubt he was starting to second-guess and berate himself for being so forthright with her. She was resolved to loosen up the rest of the evening. "Oooohh, look at this menu, taichou! There are so many delicious entrees, how will I ever choose just one?" She leaned across the table over her menu. "What are you getting, taichou?"
"The duck."
"Ah! That one sounds real good! As for me…I know! I'll take the Tuna Livronese—AHHH!" She jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair in the process. Everyone in the restaurant whirled around at the sound of her panicked shriek.
Hitsugaya was also on his feet, eyes wild with alarm. "What? What's wrong Matsumoto?"
"I almost forgot. We need to order wine, taichou!"
"…" There was the throbbing vein.
"But should it be red or white? …What am I saying? Waiter-san, I want one of each~!"
"Matsumoto, you…"
Their old bickering broke the unfamiliar mood that had previously settled about them. Matsumoto smiled as she saw Hitsugaya relax and dig into his meal when the food was delivered. They ate in relative silence, but it was a comfortable one, just like back in their office.
And then she finished the wine. Both bottles. All by herself, since Hitsugaya adamantly refused to partake of the marvelousness that is alcohol. "AHAHAHAHAHA this is so great taichouu!"
"Matsumoto, you're drunk," Hitsugaya hissed, mortified. She had, at some point, wound up on the floor, and he was glaring stormily down at her, arms crossed tightly across his chest.
"Oh taichou, you don't need to worry. Everyone else is gone," she slurred happily, indicating with a sweep of her arm the rest of the restaurant which was indeed empty. The building had cleared pretty quickly after Matsumoto had tried a balancing act with their plates and silverware ("It's like waitressing but with dancing," she'd explained incomprehensibly to her taichou) and ended in crashing dish-breaking failure. "Now we can really have some fun! Waiter, another bottle!"
"Absolutely not." Some people raised their voices when they were pissed. Hitsugaya tended to lower his and practically growl the words. It was actually sort of sexy, that commanding tone coupled with a deep hoarseness. Matsumoto giggled and hiccupped, and wondered if that was his bedroom voice.
"I love you, Rangiku. Give yourself to me, Rangiku. Let me taste you, Rangiku." And then they would ram their tongues down each other's throats and fall onto a red heart-shaped canopy bed with silken sheets, tearing each other's clothes off in violent lust, and make mad mad love while violins swelled and winged cupids sang Hallelujah above them.
"Get up Matsumoto, we're leaving."
"Hai, hai!" She saluted goofily and climbed unsteadily to her feet. "But you owe me dessert sometime, taichou!"
:::
They were walking alongside a quietly flowing river as they made their way back to Seireitei. Well, Hitsugaya was. Matsumoto was giving it her best shot, but stumbling would already be a generous description. She was mildly astonished her captain hadn't shunpo-ed the hell away from her the instant they were outside the bistro. If there was anything Hitsugaya disliked more than a non-working Matsumoto, it was a drunk non-working Matsumoto. But his prior ire at the restaurant had already dissipated (then again, he'd have died of an aneurysm by now if he didn't learn to shrug off Matsumoto's antics), and he was rather serenely striding back towards their home base.
He looked older in the moonlight. The silver rays cast muted shadows flittingly across his face, lending it a mien of grave dignity. How the tables had turned since the day they met, Matsumoto thought not for the first time. Back then, she'd seen a poor bullied youngster, much like her past self, in need of guidance and protection. She'd scolded him, told him to be a man, to be strong no matter how bad things got. And now he was stronger than she'd ever imagined, and it was she who now unquestioningly looked to him for direction, she who saw him as a pillar of support and safety. Damn she wanted him to hold her.
Well, there was always the next best thing. "Taichouu!" She lunged over and pulled her startled captain into a soft squishy bear hug. "It's too fine a night to go home already! Say, let's go to Renji's and drink some more!"
"Like I'd do that."
"Then let's just sit out here and enjoy the full moon. Mouu taichou, walking is so tiring, especially with how heavy my chest is." She pulled him closer and wriggled her boobs against his head for emphasis, just in case he had somehow forgotten her heavenly endowments.
"I told you not to tell me about that."
"Why not? They're my woman's pride!"
"What does that even mean?" Hitsugaya tugged forcefully and slipped out of the ring of her arms.
"Mine are the biggest this side of Soul Society. Shouldn't I be proud of them? I'll have you know while going through the Academy I was known as Matsumoto "Big Breast Goddess" Rangiku!"
"Stop telling me things I don't want to know!"
Matsumoto stared at Hitsugaya's back as he continued walking away from her, feeling strangely dismissed. Hitsugaya-taichou hadn't spoken more sharply or severely than usual; it was his typical rejoinder to most of Matsumoto's comments. But she was hurt all the same.
Tonight, Mastumoto had seen a softer side to Hitsugaya, and not by accident. Her captain had consciously opened himself to her and allowed a relationship between them outside of the workplace, and she'd started to think something had really changed between them—that the distance between them had closed a little more. It had felt so good, like telling a truth after keeping it in for a long time. There had been such genuine warmth from Hitsugaya. She wanted things to stay like that just a little longer.
"What's wrong, Matsumoto?"
She snapped back to attention to see Hitsugaya had stopped and turned to stare at her with concern. I must have looked really upset. Ack. She straightened up and laughed, waving one hand dismissively in the air at Hitsugaya. "Ahahahaha it's nothing, taichou. Just thought of something…um, I was thinking of…ah…" Hitsugaya frowned a little deeper. For someone so reserved, he was amazingly adept at deducing other people's emotions. She couldn't let him see through to her true feelings. Not yet.
Matsumoto racked her brain frantically, but alas, it was still heavily addled with alcohol. "…Gin! I was thinking of Gin." She knew it was a poor subject to bring up, but it was the one topic Hitsugaya always backed off of.
Except Hitsugaya did not back off this time. If anything, he just looked more worried. And maybe a little angry. "Gin? Why?" He took a step forward as he asked.
Matsumoto was so surprised by his reaction she stumbled backwards. It was the first time she could recall retreating from her captain when he wasn't furiously yelling at her to do work. "Ah…well, taichou, I'm always thinking about him, you know." Damn. Saying it aloud somehow hurt more than just ruminating about it alone in her head. Always…I'm always thinking about him. But I can think all I want and it won't change a damn thing.
To Hitsugaya, she continued to babble, horrified at the words coming out of her mouth. Her tongue, usually obedient despite a night of heavy drinking, had gone rogue, and her brain was too sluggish to subdue it. "We were best friends, and I owe him my life. I really cared about him, taichou, and now he's gone. Of course I'd think about him all the time now." These were things no one else was ever meant to hear. It was a Pandora's box of all the most miserable emotions Matsumoto did her best to suppress, and she was flinging it wide open for Hitsugaya.
To hell with him. To hell with the men always breaking her heart. "I loved him, damnit!" Suddenly angry, she pointed an accusing finger at her captain. "And you know it! So why rub salt in the wound, taichou? I leave Hinamori out of it, don't I?" She continued backing away and almost tripped over a clod of dirt. "What is it with you white-haired men? You think you can just say and do whatever you want, and you don't care who you hurt…" She hiccupped.
"All right, Matsumoto! I'm sorry I asked!" Hitsugaya walked faster towards her, which only made Matsumoto pick up her own pace. "Why are you trying to run away?"
"Why can't I? Everyone else runs. Gin ran. You're running away from me too." Tears sprung to her eyes. Matsumoto sniffled and swayed in her steps. One part of her was trying to clap her hands over her mouth, but a much stronger part of her was feeling spitefully reckless and refused to be silenced. "You…you won't even touch my breasts…" she slurred piteously and rubbed at her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Hitsugaya looked on the brink of reaching up and tearing his hair out. "First it's Gin, then it's—Matsumoto, watch out!"
But it was too late. Matsumoto had wobbled off the path, and her next step was met with empty air right before she fell ungraciously into the river.
:::
"Blaagh!" Matsumoto broke through the surface with a heaving gasp followed by sputtering as she coughed up what felt like a quart of water. The water was cold, and it immediately shocked her out of her drunken haze. "Ahh, it's cold! Cold! Kyaaah!"
"Matsumoto!" Still somewhat disoriented, she was bewildered to hear a second splash, before she realized that her captain had jumped in and was swimming frantically towards her, hollering all the time, "Matsumoto, are you all right?" His eyes were wide and that pretty pale green shade they got whenever he was really shook up. That was touching. Matsumoto couldn't remember how she could have gotten upset at such a sweet taichou.
"H-hai, taichou." Matsumoto smiled bashfully at Hitsugaya as he reached her. "Ahaha sorry about that. You didn't have to dive in after me, you know? I can swim pretty well."
"You were so drunk I didn't know if you'd remember how." Hitsugaya studied her for a moment, probably confirming for himself that she wasn't about to pass out and sink to the riverbed. Finally, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were back to the usual color and a tinge of his usual annoyance had returned as well. But overall he was visibly relieved. "Well, whatever. I'm glad nothing worse happened. Let's get back to shore."
:::
As part of the Gotei 13, she and Hitsugaya-taichou had just about every powerful kido spell at their disposal. And not one of them involved the drying of clothes.
"It's soooo cooold!" Matsumoto wailed, hugging herself as she sat on the ground in a dripping puddle. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Hitsugaya sullenly wring out his haori. More than the cold, what chilled her to the bone was the thought of her captain picking up the convoluted conversation they'd been having before she fell in. I swear I'll give up on afternoon naps if he forgets everything. …well, three days a week. I'll give up afternoon naps three days a week if he forgets everything.
She couldn't believe she'd pronounced her love for Gin to Hitsugaya-taichou of all people. Talk about awkward. It didn't matter if Hitsugaya already knew; you just didn't go around confessing love of one man to the other man you loved. Ugh.
Oh well. At least the evening wasn't a complete loss, Matsumoto thought, watching Hitsugaya slip out of his kosode to wring out the sleeves. His silvery hair was truly shimmering now from the beads of water still dripping off the unruly strands. More drops made a winding trail down along his sculpted chest to his flat but muscled abdomen. It was always a pleasant surprise for Matsumoto to realize that under the multiple layers of loose clothing he wore, Hitsugaya had quite the body. Certainly, it was small and a bit on the wiry side, but it was the physique of a grown fighter, not a boy.
Hitsugaya turned briefly, and Matsumoto quickly averted her gaze and resumed wailing. "What are we going to do, taichou? It's so cold! And my beautiful dress is ruined! Just look at it!"
The dress was soaked through and through. The wet fabric clung to her significant curves, leaving nothing to the imagination (not that there was much left to begin with). With her tousled hair and skin gleaming wetly under the moonlight, Matsumoto wasn't exactly an eyesore herself and she knew it.
Hitsugaya, however, was impervious to her charms. "Don't sit here and tell me about it. If you're cold, go ahead and get back to your quarters to change."
It seemed he had decided to overlook her drunken ranting about Gin. Matsumoto pouted at her captain, but secretly let out a breath of relief. Just then, a group of Shinigami, probably returning from their own nightly outing, passed by the river and almost fell over one another as each man stopped to gawk at the radiant goddess by the river. In the dark, they couldn't tell it was the tenth division lieutenant and her captain. Matsumoto saw them and smiled mischievously.
"Taichou, those men are looking at me! Aaah, this is so embarrassing!" She clapped her hands to the side of her face.
Hitsugaya glowered at her, not convinced at all of her sudden modesty. But he looked up and shot a glare of pure death at the men, who finally realized exactly who they were peeping at and hurried away. Hitsugaya resumed drying his robes. "If you don't want men looking at you, cover yourself up."
This was the response Matsumoto was waiting for. "With what, taichou? I didn't bring anything else to wear! Ah, I know! Why don't you give me your haori?"
"…" The look on Hitsugaya's face told her that he knew he had been outmaneuvered. Matsumoto smiled innocently up at him. "Fine. Do what you want." He tossed her the haori. He had actually done a decent job wringing out the water, although the cloth was still damp. Matsumoto beamed and draped it around her shoulders, feeling instantly warmer. It smelled like its owner—a fresh, clean wintry scent infused with the glow of Hitsugaya's powerful and protective reiatsu. "You do realize it's still wet," he commented sourly.
Matsumoto smiled and pulled the fabric even closer to her. "I don't mind."