Fic: Precocious child
Title: Precocious child
Characters: Inoue, Hitsugaya, Masumoto
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Don't own nothing!
Orhime could only stare as Toushirou-kun's hand moved with a sort of assurance across the paper. Last night her physics book had gone missing and she spent a better part of the night looking- panicking- about that homework due on Monday. But just as she was preparing herself to climb the wet roof- she figured a bird might have flew in and stolen her book- Toushirou-kun held out her book the next morning, explaining that she must have mixed her book with his things.
“Thank you so much for finding it for me,” she had said hugging the book tightly. He merely shrugged his shoulders and sat on the cushions of the low-rising table to look over documents.
However, her happiness didn't last long as she began to stumbled on the first problem.
“You know...” Toushirou-kun began hesitantly noticing her. “If you want I can help you.”
“Ah but physics is really hard!” Orhime imposed. “And you’re busy with your homework, Toushirou-kun.” He ignored her, instead turned to face the ugly problem and quickly working to solve it.
“You should get 100 meters,” Toushirou-kun answered, briefly glancing to see if there were any mistakes. Orhime blinked, pulled out her calculator, and pressed a few buttons. She gasped when the screen blinked 100. “Wow, Toushirou-kun! You're so smart!” she clapped.
"Its no big deal," he answered, with that sort of tone that said he didn't deserve any praise. "See if you can do this one."
“Alright!” Looking down at the rather vexing word problem her face began scrunching up in confusion. “It’s similar to the one I just did,” he responded.
“Okay,” she said seriously, picking up her pencil and scribbling down formulas, while Toushirou-kun stared out the window watching the tiny droplets of water crash onto the glass.
It was raining outside, so there was nothing fun to do except being coped up inside and doing homework. What's worse Tasuki-chan had caught a cold, so she couldn't even come over as she usually did when they had homework. But so long as her friend felt better, Orhime felt that it was alright.
“Is this the answer?” she asked almost shyly. He turned from his window gazing to her work.
His teal eyes moved back and forth, reading it before nodding his head. She was absolutely ecstatic and jumped from her seat, hugging him tightly until she realized that he was struggling to be let go. “Sorry, Toushirou-kun!” she said sheepishly and he was gasping for air. “This is the first time I was able to understand physics.”
“Yeah, just make sure that doesn't happen again,” he muttered and she could see the tiniest tint of red on his cheeks. Orhime smiled as she came up with a new idea. “Since you helped me on my homework then I'll help you with yours.”
“Its paperwork,” he corrected. “And you don't have to help me or anything.”
“But you helped me out besides Rangiku-san already taught me!”
His face turned darkly as he found an explanation for his fukutaichou's’s punctuality in paperwork. The minutes passed by rather quickly and before she knew it her stomach was grumbling that it was time for lunch. She exclaimed that it was obviously time for a break and though Toushirou-kun wanted to finish as quickly as possible he agreed.
Immediately, Orhime set to work about the kitchen, pulling out a jar of honey, dill pickles and a loaf of bread, telling him that she was gonna make them sandwiches. She didn't understand why Toushirou-kun's eye was twitching; maybe he didn't like wheat bread?
“I'll just get some tea.”
“You sure Toushirou-kun? I could make you a sandwich, too,” she answered spreading the honey.
“Really its fine.”
The phone rang at that instant just as Orhime was figuring out a way to persuade him. Wiping her hands on a paper towel, she cheerfully greeted the person on the other line.
“Orhime?”
“Ah Rangiku-san! How are you? Toushirou-kun and I were just finishing our homework when we decided to take a break. Hey do you want a sandwich?”
“Your pickled honey sandwiches? Those were absolutely delicious!” she paused for a moment before whispering. “Orhime, is taichou around?”
She blinked, scanning her kitchen until she spotted Toushirou-kun trying exhaustively to reach the top cabinet, where the tea bags sat. “Hmm... he's busy.”
“Good,” the woman sighed. "Do you think you can pick me up? I went shopping and I found something I'm sure you'll absolutely love.” Rangiku-san loved to shop and Toushirou-kun did not. Despite their differences, things worked out- Rangiku-san agreed not to shop in front of him that is. She would often sneak away to go shopping after dealing with those annoying hollows, and then sneak back in- with her twenty or so bags. Toushirou-kun was none the wiser and since the paperwork got filled in and the hollows were dealt with he had no reason to question his fukutaichou's three hours disappearance when it should have been five minutes.
“Sure,” she agreed quickly taking note of Rangiku-san's location. “I'll be there in ten minutes.”
“Thanks, you're the best Orhime,” she said happily. “And can you make sure taichou doesn't find out?”
“Don't worry, Rangiku-san, you can count on me!”
“Who was that?”
A yelp escaped her lips and she turned around to face the young captain. His arms were folded across his chest and his teal eyes carefully examining her as she set down the phone. “That was… uh… that was my mailman! Ran into traffic- really this is such bad weather!- and asked me if I would meet him to pick up my mail!”
“Really?”
“Yes. Yes! Poor Mailman-san being stuck in such bad weather.” For a good ten seconds he stared at her, and Orhime could do nothing but smile nervously in hopes that she didn’t seem at all suspicious.
“Humans are so weird,” Toushirou-kun concluded turning away from her. She sighed in content.
“Inoue.”
Another yelp escaped her lips.
“Would you stop doing that? It’s annoying.”
“Eh? Sorry.” She laughed to herself before realizing that Toushirou-kun was pointing to the cabinet. “Oh, you're too little to reach the cabinet,” she dawn in comprehension walking over to the cabinet and reaching for the tea bags.
Maybe it was just her but she could have sworn a bit of a draft entered the room.
“I mean... ” she said hurriedly, stringing up words together. “That’s not to say that you’re short or anything because you're not short at all Toushirou-kun! Nope your the opposite of short! You're tall... yeah you're tall for a grade school student... well not really... but definitely a kindergartner.”
“Oh no, I just used the taboo word didn't I? I'm sorry Toushirou-kun; I didn’t mean to call you short. Except its kinda hard not to call you short...”
“ALRIGHT I GET IT! I'M SHORT!”
Orhime gulped preferring to take out the kettle and boil the water. Within a few minutes the kettle hissed, emitting angry steam- a pour comparison to Toushirou-kun's outburst earlier. He poured the hot water in a cup, adding a tea bag.
“Aren't you going to meet the mailman?” he asked blowing on the soft swirls of steam that were rising from the cup.
“Oh yes. Well I probably shouldn't keep him waiting,” she said grabbing her purse and an umbrella. “I'll be back soon Toushirou-kun!” she said happily closing the door behind her.
The rain beat onto the cement floor. Overhead the clouds spun darkly, forbidding the sun from shining its rays and casting a sort of gloom throughout the streets. Streams of water trailed down to the sewer pipes, creating a soft trickling sound before it fell underground. Far a distance she could see the headlights of the bus, causing her to quicken her paces. The doors of the bus opened, blowing out a gush of warm air and tickling her nose. The ride was short and when she arrived she could see Rangiku-san holding a large umbrella and waving at her.
Immediately she was met with one of Rangiku-san's bone crushing hug. "Thanks for coming!"
"It's no problem..." she said fixing her hair slightly. "Ah... do you need me to help you carry something?" But she paused noticing that the older woman was not carrying the twenty or so bags that she usually did. In fact she was holding nothing but a small purse.
"C'mon I'll show you what I bought," she said happily grabbing a hold of Orhime's hand and dragging her along.
She led her across the street, passing a few restaurants that were empty because of the rain, a few boutiques, and one of two banks further down. A few people wandered about, wearing raincoats or carrying large umbrellas, and then disappeared into the safety of a building.The hem of her skirt was slight getting wet from the splashing water puddles. "Uh... where are we going, Rangiku-san?"
Orhime asked realizing that they were leaving the shopping center behind. At last a large glass building came into view, where many pretty and expensive cars were parked in front. She held open the door for her and they walked in to meet a short recipient that was busy talking on the phone. The recipient looked over at them before nodding her head and signaling them to continue.
Their shoes clicked on the smooth marble floor and as they continued along the room opened. It was a lobby- white and shining, despite the rain- and in the center were a row of very, very expensive looking cars. A few people, business people from the looks of it, walked about conversing with a salesperson. Again Rangiku-san grabbed her hand and went into the end of the rows, where a red sport car stood in display.
"Well what do you think?"
"It's a car."
"I know its a car," Rangiku-san said with a laugh. "Taichou taught me all that stuff!"
"Yeah..." Orhime asked, scratching her head. "I don't get it."
"Orhime, this is my car!" she said jumping up and down with excitement. "I talked with a salesman and he said all I had to do was sign a bunch of papers." At that moment a salesman walked in, dressed in a crisp white shirt and a black tie. He smiled warmly at Rangiku-san saying that the bank has agreed to give her a loan and asking her to follow him into his office where the finally documents would be signed.
"Wait Rangiku-san," Orhime said grabbing a hold of her arm. "I don't think this is a good idea. What if Toushirou-kun finds out? He'll be really mad." Suddenly his early out burst came into mind.
"I'll just tell taichou that this is your car."
"But I don't know how to drive."
"Eh?" and this time Rangiku-san looked slightly troubled. "I was hoping you knew." Orhime shook her head. "Don't you know?"
She paused.
"Oh well... I'm sure we can figure out between the two of us!"
Now the red lights were flashing that this was not a good idea but Rangiku-san kept brushing her off. They moved towards the back of the lobby, where a set of cubicles stood. The salesman lead them to his own, still smiling brightly as he started his computer and set to work on typing a few things. The printer buzzed to life and he pulled out the contract in front of her, ready to be signed.
"Can we test drive it first?" Rangiku-san asked not bothering to look at the length descriptions of the contract. "Of course! You just seemed so positive that you wanted this car. I'll be right back."
He left to grab the keys. "Stop looking so worry Orhime," she said shoving the mints that were on the desk into her mouth. She could see that her face was slightly pale, her hands trembling, as though she were about to stare death straight in the face- but that's a pretty bad analogy considering that Rangiku-san is a shinigami.
"You should be excited that you're getting a brand new car," she continued poking in the desk to find more mints. The fear didn't seize as Rangiku-san finally sat behind the wheel, and pulled her along the passenger's seat. She looked curiously at the interior, opening compartments and pushing buttons before pouting that this car was not working.
"You need to start it first," the salesman answered, flipping the pages of his chart to look at her license- not knowing that it was a complete fake. "Just turn the key." He stepped out watching from a distance. The sky overhead was still cloudy though the rain had finally stopped.
"Okay here we go!" she said happily looking at the empty streets and turning the key. There was a short rumble before both women yelled out in fear as the air conditioning, radio and window blades sprang to life.
"Please Rangiku-san let's not do this. This is very dangerous."
"Orhime I've got everything under control," she said confidently. "Now how do I stop those swiping-thingy?" she pointed on the window and began pushing all the buttons until she finally found the right one.
Orhime took in a breath, closing her eyes tightly as she rested her hand on the key and prepared to turn the engine on. Suddenly there was a sharp jab on the glass, the window rolled down and both women gasped as they saw Toushirou-kun standing there not at all pleased.
"Turn on that car and you are so dead."
After they were safely out of the car- Rangiku-san tried to escapd, blazed the engine in full strength and pressed the gas as hard as she could, not quite realizing that the car was a manual- Orhime ran over to Toushirou-kun and hugged him as tightly as she could. "Thank you, Toushirou-kun, thank you!"
"I-Inoue!" he yelled out struggling to be let go. "Sorry!" she said sheepishly noticing the slightest bit of red on his cheeks.
"Why couldn't you just get out?"
"The doors were locked!"
Toushirou-kun sighed. He turned to his fukutaichou and she attempted to put on the best smile she could. "Taichou! What a lovely surprise! Hey have I ever mentioned what a wonderful, smart, compassionate, tall captain you are?"
"Sucking up is not going to work Masumoto."
"I had to try," she sighed. "But seriously taichou I was going to buy that car for Orhime."
"You were going to do WHAT?"
They left the car dealer at once. Toushirou-kun telling the salesman as politely as he could that they were not interested any more. The salesman tried to persuade him but he made the unfortunate mistake of calling him short- "You seem a bit short for a nineteen-year-old." The entire building shook in terror at the harsh yelling of Toushirou-kun and the poor salesman was left whimpering underneath his death, nursing a broken shin bone.
"Masumoto, you were just about to buy a car that you can't afford, you can't drive, and you definitely cannot take back home," he sighed tired of yelling. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on through you're mind."
"Ah taichou it was a pretty car and the salesman was really nice; I just got pulled in."
"He's a a salesman, he gets a commission for selling as many cars as he can!"
"But he gave us a free coffee mug," Orhime added.
"Yeah so you could take out a 23 percent APR auto loan."
He paused as he looked both ways before crossing the streets- the sun finally beaming through the cloudy sky. Puddles covered the streets as they traveled further and further along to the bus stop. Both women collapsed on the bench, tired from the long walk, while Toushirou-kun stood by the post waiting for the bus.
"Toushirou-kun how did you find us anyway?" Orhime asked. He pulled out his cell phone. "Besides tracking hollows, this also tracks our whereabouts. I figured you were taking too long getting your mail from 'Mailman-san,'" he said sarcastically. "So you must be helping Masumoto hide all the useless things she bought."
"I do not buy useless things"
"Masumoto you do not need a stuffed squirrel." She pouted at him. "It was cute!"
"Ah wait a second!" Orhime spoke out. "Does that mean you knew all along that Rangiku-san was shopping?"
"Yeah. But when I found out that both of you were walking into a car dealer, I knew no good could come out of it. Masumoto driving would be a complete menace to society."
"You're so mean taichou! If I had a car then we wouldn't have to be waiting for the bus and we could have gotten Orhime's mail from Mailman'san! Besides I was going to let you drive it."
"But Rangiku-san, Toushirou-kun is too short to reach the brakes," Orhime said pointing her index finger to her chin and thinking. "He probably needs a little bicycle... no a little tricycle! They're so cute for preschoolers."
Both women talked for a moment about tricycles and stuffed squirrels before Orhime suddenly told Rangiku-san that she finally gotten a hang of physics and telling her that she found a new recipe for making honey-pickled sandwiches which included adding a bit of garlic. Still Orhime couldn't quite understand why Toushirou-kun's eye were twitching, maybe he wanted the bus to hurry up?
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