Sorry about the wait. I've had a lot of stuff going on lately. Schoolwork's been piling up, I'm trying to find a job, and my family's a little short on money and time right now, so I've been helping out. I hope I may be forgiven.
"Oi! Hitsugaya, you in here?"
He should have figured they'd send somebody to find him at some point. One can't simply disappear into a public restroom without being found eventually.
Still, he'd hoped it wouldn't be before he managed to properly berate himself for being an idiot.
"Do you mind?" he snarled. "I'm a little busy here!"
"Uh-huh," Ichigo drawled, clearly annoyed and unconvinced. "Sure you are. Been busy for the past forty-five minutes. Pop thought maybe you'd been eaten by something."
"I'm not that stupid," Hitsugaya snapped. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much."
"Yup. Sure can. You mind telling me why you just ran off like that? Bathroom can't be much of a tourist attraction. What's so important here?"
"Kurosaki, just leave me alone!"
"Touchy, huh? What? Can't wipe yourself?"
"Shut up! I'm not a child!"
"Sure acting like one. What? Afraid of Matsumoto knowing you like her? I think she knows that one already. It's not a secret, Hitsugaya. Just about everyone I know who's seen you two knows it. They hound me for details, askin' how a shrimp like you got a hold of such a babe. Like I'm gonna take the time out of my day to find out crap like that."
"You won't take the time out of your day to find out about my affairs, but you're taking time out of your day to annoy me about them. Interesting."
"Well, now they directly concern me. Because you just took off, I had to go out and find your ass. Matsumoto said to leave you alone, but Pop 'n Yuzu were so damn insistent it just got to be less of a headache to do it. You gonna come back now?"
"I'd rather not. It's quiet in here, which is less than I can say for back there. Your father has a terrible habit of doing things he cannot do...like singing."
"Don't need to tell me that. Known it for years. Now c'mon, damn it."
"I'm not going to argue with you."
"You're acting like a baby, Hitsugaya."
"You can insult me all you want."
"Fine, whatever. I'll just tell Yuzu she was right. Hitsugaya-niichan hates her. That's why he left."
The door to the stall was kicked open.
Glaring hotly at Ichigo's indifferent face, Hitsugaya scowled. "...I hate you, Kurosaki."
"Good for you."
"You know, it's not right to use your sister against me. Bad enough that she does it."
"Hey, it works. 'Sides, it ain't my fault you're such a sap that you can't do anything that'd make Yuzu sad."
"Dear Kettle," Hitsugaya said sarcastically as he pushed past Ichigo and left the restroom, "it's me, the Pot. I don't know how to tell you this, but there's something about your current hue that...well, bothers me."
"Ha, ha," Ichigo muttered. "Face it, man. You avoid my house 'cuz you don't wanna see her. If you do, she'll want you to join in on whatever game she's playing and you won't be able to say no."
"It's really becoming an issue, this color of yours," Hitsugaya said. "It hurts my eyes."
"And I don't get your...thing with Matsumoto, either. I mean, hell, she is hot. And she was just about drooling back there. Make a damn move, you idiot."
"I do hope you aren't upset, Kettle. It's not that I don't want to be friends, it's just..."
"Okay, I get the Yuzu thing, but what the hell are you talking about now?"
"I don't know," Hitsugaya said. "Why don't you ask Rukia? Or Inoue? They might know."
"What the holy f--wait. What?"
"You just realized this? Took you long enough."
Hitsugaya smirked as realization dawned on the young shinigami's face.
Ichigo turned around.
"Where are you going?"
"...Bathroom."
If Ichigo and Hitsugaya seem overly OOC...I apologize. It's been a while. Hope you enjoyed it, anyway. Ja ne, all.