It Takes Time

By: Le tired

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters, blah blah blah, etc.

Rated: M.

Author's Notes: So, this is retarded, but while I was writing this fic, I got ideas for two more stories, so I'm dividing my time and attention between a few projects now, hence the missed update last week. Apologies all around but hey, as of right now, there's only 1.2k worth of stories starring Hitsugaya and Matsumoto. I feel I MUST contribute more to the fandom! I actually finished and uploaded the one-shot earlier today (it's called Ep 305: Frustration Roars! Hitsugaya, Away from the Hot Springs Inn! for anyone interested in giving it a read), so I promise I'm being productive and not just dilly-dallying.

This is a shorter chapter. It feels a little lame and I debated melding the next chapter with it, but the next chapter has a slightly different emotional tone to it, so in the end I cut it back out. I think, we're now approaching a point in the story I've mapped out where Hitsugaya and Matsumoto start to recognize the depth of their feelings and how it might change them. Of course, you can't tell from this chapter, which is just setting some stuff up, but basically, the next couple chapters are kinda tied together. Props to anyone who can guess what exactly I'm setting up for poor Hitsugaya!

penscritch: Haha thank you! I'm glad you see it the same way I do—they're totally married, right?! And yeah, since Hitsugaya is her boss and gets to order her around most of the time, I guess it's only fair that she gets to whip him outside of work (hmm that doesn't sound quite…right XD). Also, thank you for sharing my laundry woes! I admit I've ruined a few clothes in the past out of sheer laziness -_-.

sagitgirlth: Thank you! I have yet to see Hitsugaya come out on top of an exchange with Matsumoto, so it seemed appropriate :D. I'm sure he doesn't really mind, anyway!

kriitikko: Hehe yeah that's where I see them ending up eventually too, though I'm still debating if it'll happen in this fic or not. No joke, I'd watch a Bleach spinoff where it's just the two of them living together somewhere. Thanks again for the review!

Nanami B: Glad to see you're still enjoying the story! Oh, and I went ahead and replied privately to your review of my other fic, just so you know!

IvorySea: Thank you very much, I'm doing my best to write and update on a regular schedule!

Michele Uchiha: Thank you as always for the support from Brazil! I have to agree, it's touching in a very sad way if Hitsugaya and Matsumoto meet their end together (Cang Du basically says the same thing…but in a mean way). If Kubo Tite intends for him and Hinamori to be a couple, then he is doing an awful job; they haven't even been in the same panel for this last arc.

FS1: Thanks a lot! Ergh I wish I'd been working on this properly over the last two years, but better late than never, right? And yeah, I wish there were more HitsuMatsu stories, they're such a great pairing!

Prince of Winter Dragons: Haha yeah living with a girl for the first time is sure to be a shock for Toshirou. But he's smart, he's figuring it out :P. Hoo boy I don't even want to think about the sex scene hahaha. I've got the next few chapters leading up to it planned out, but writing it all out is a whole different story. But I'll keep your advice in mind for sure! And wow, thanks for pointing out the 300 reviews—that is pretty amazing, when I think about it!

Chapter 33

"Taichou! Hitsugaya-taichou!"

Toshirou stopped short of the bathroom door on the other side of which Matsumoto was presumably inside, given that was from where her obnoxiously loud voice seemed to be emanating. "What is it, Matsumoto?" He crossed his arms and waited, trying not to think about how he was probably the only captain on the Gotei 13 that waited outside the bathroom for his lieutenant (except maybe Kyoraku the pervert...although that would be for entirely different reasons).

"Taichou, we're out of toilet paper! Can you bring me a roll?"

"..."

"...taichou? Taichou, are you still there? This is an emergency!"

I'm going to kill her. No, really, I am. "I'm still here. Stop shouting, idiot!" He wanted to slap himself in the face when he realized a moment too late he was shouting himself, like a moron. "...all right, where is the toilet paper?"

"I don't know! But it's got to be around somewhere! Just look around, taichou! I know you can do it!"

Matsumoto always sounded the cheeriest when she was somehow conniving him into doing something for her. Toshirou felt the small immature part of him that cropped up from time to time contemplate returning to the reports he'd been working on and leaving Matsumoto to fend for herself. But that was a bit crude. Granny wouldn't approve. "Fine, stay in there and wait. I'll go find some."

"Hurry, taichou! You can't make a lady wait! Plus it's reeeally boring sitting here on the toilet by myself—"

"I GOT IT! I'm going now!"

Toshirou made his defeated way around Inoue's apartment, feeling more and more the colossal fool, opening random cabinets. It had only been a little over two weeks since he and Matsumoto had begun living there while Inoue trained in Soul Society, and he'd done his best out of respect for their absent hostess not to pry into her things. It had apparently been a mistake on his part, as he was now beginning to realize, since it left him clueless as to where basic household items were, but what else could he do? It still made him uncomfortable, living in a stranger's home so familiarly, and with Matsumoto of all people.

Still half-grumbling in his thoughts, Toshirou almost missed the neatly stacked rolls of white cottony toilet paper on a top shelf when he finally chanced upon them. Especially when they were nestled inexplicably between a medium-sized jar of strawberry wafers, some DVDs, and a pair of unworn dress shoes. Toshirou had to stop and shake his head and reaffirm he was actually seeing the contents of the closet correctly. Am I in her kitchen pantry or bedroom closet or what…? Inoue's apartment was so neat and organized on the outside (unlike Matsumoto's), but the unsuspecting moment you dared to look closer…it opened the door to a complex labyrinth of disorder and whimsical chaos. For Toshirou, who enjoyed the sense of stability reason and logic had to offer…it was practically his worst nightmare. Then again, after witnessing firsthand what Inoue considered appropriate meals and daily fare, perhaps he shouldn't have been so shocked.

Nor should he have been surprised when he couldn't reach the toilet paper.

Of course it just had to be on an upper shelf. Toshirou smothered a shout of irritation in his throat in what he considered a magnificent demonstration of willpower, stood as high as he could on his toes, and strained upward with one arm again.

No luck. Biting his lip in embarrassment, even with the knowledge no one else was watching, he finally gave a hesitant hop. Then a bigger one. Then a proper jump.

What the hell was this? Even Inoue would barely be able reach the rolls. Why on earth would she stash a common and oft needed household item somewhere so inconvenient to reach? …oh right, because it was Inoue. (Inoue as a matter of fact thought this was the perfect place to store toilet paper because like clouds, toilet paper is soft and white, and therefore should be as close to the sky as possible. Pure logic.)

With the increased height of his upward propulsions, the desired hygienic supplies were that oh so hated and familiar distance away beyond his grasp—just close enough for his fingertips to rub and knock the items feebly to one side or another, but too far to actually coax them closer to the edge within reach.

Gods above, I swear… They were in the human world, and he was in a gigai. Technically, he had no business using his Shingami training and physical prowess outside of Soul Society matters (that time in the park fighting with those punks couldn't be helped, he couldn't exactly let them beat him up). If he were a real normal human child, he'd have to shuffle off in all his height-challenged inadequacy and find a small stepstool or ladder.

It would only take a few seconds, Orihime's desk and chair where she told them she sat nightly to do homework were right in the adjacent room. He could step on the chair and voila! Problem solved.

And yet…it was still too much trouble and a waste of time when he could just…

"Taichou!" Matsumoto's voice rang out with a slight echo down the hallway just as he leapt up with his enhanced spiritual strength. His hand closed easily around a soft roll, but the sudden appearance of his lieutenant caused him to skid and stumble slightly as he landed on the wooden floor before he caught his balance.

"Matsumoto, what are you doing out of the bathroom? I told you to wait, didn't I?"

"Yes I know, taichou, but you were taking so long, I got worried." Matsumoto stood there a minute longer, taking in her captain and the open closet, before a sly grin broke out on her face. At least she'd come out of the bathroom fully dressed and not half naked (always a real possibility when it came to Matsumoto). "Hooo, was the toilet paper too high up for you, my sweet adorable taichou?"

"…shut up. I got it, didn't I?" Toshirou thought he might crush the toilet paper if he held onto it any longer, so he threw it at her. "So hurry up and use it. We don't have all day. There's the meeting with Madarame and Ayasegawa, and then we should go out and patrol, not to mention train."

"Use it? For what?" Matsumoto stared at him cluelessly for a moment, not bothering to catch the hurtled roll. The toilet paper bounced off her side, unheeded, then dropped with a cushiony plop onto the floor. "…OH! Right! Well, ahahaha…no worries, taichou, I found an extra roll under the sink."

"…"

"Taichou, you all right? Your complexion is sort of… Taichou! Where are you going?! You're heading out already? Taichouuuu wait for meee!"

Patrolling was such a bore. Better than divisional administrative paperwork…but not by much, if you asked Matsumoto.

Hitsugaya-taichou had assigned her to the outer suburbs to the east, far from the shopping districts, for inscrutable reasons known only to him. Well, technically, he'd said it was so she wouldn't be tempted to skip off in the middle of her duties. But that was too silly a reason to be real—after all, it couldn't take her more than 5 minutes to fly over as soon as she'd completed her circuit. If her captain actually thought pure distance would keep her away from the season's latest fashion, then he'd sorely underestimated Matsumoto Rangiku.

"Ahh, I love the real world!" she exclaimed happily as she swung her fifth bag of dresses over one shoulder. People passing on the sidewalks were starting to turn and look at her, and one kind man had even offered to help carry some of her newly acquired cargo for her. But that was completely unnecessary. Matsumoto felt bad for all the regular humans who didn't seem capable of carrying more than a few pounds of shopping at a time; that was just so inefficient!

A new window display caught her eye, and she halted, intrigued. It wasn't the usual type of store she frequented. The clothes being showcased in the window weren't of particularly high quality, and they were more seasonal than fashionable. In fact, they were quite unfashionable to wear except for one day out of the year.

"Halloween costumes, huh?" She read the banner strung across the top of the display aloud. She'd heard of the holiday—a Western tradition that was catching on more and more in Japan. She didn't know too much about it, but any chance to dress up and party sounded good to her.

Unfortunately, without Kira or Hisagi around, throwing a celebration didn't hold much appeal. Renji might have been game under other circumstances, but he'd started training now and when he got all pumped up about getting stronger like that, Matsumoto knew she'd have better luck achieving bankai than getting him to stop practicing with his. Ikkaku and Yumichika had shared sake with her on occasions, but they weren't so close that she'd invite the two of them to hang out with her alone. And Hitsugaya-taichou…he'd kill her if he saw what she was currently contemplating.

Yet, in a twist of irony, it was Hitsugaya that had made her stop and consider the window display with genuine potential. It was a hare-brained notion. Her captain would never wear it. In fact, if she valued her life, the item she couldn't seem to stop admiring should never see the light of day around her unfestive captain.

But they're the exact color of his hair! The exact shade of white! It'd match so well, you couldn't tell which parts are real and which parts are fake! And if he wore them, he'd look…! Matsumoto covered her mouth with her hands, but a small squeal of delight still made it out as her a final image birthed in her imagination. "S-so cute!" It was no debate; the obvious decision had to be made. She ran into the store.

"Excuse me, sir! I'd like to buy that wolfman costume please! And don't forget the ears!"