Kindergarten & Girlfriends
Kindergarten & Girlfriends
Matsumoto sat on Hitsugaya’s sofa. In the early morning light, in front of a dying fire, she reveled in sitting with the love of her live resting, his head in her lap. It was raining outside, something that only occurred when you least needed it. She tried to enjoy the rain, and succeeded. She reflected back on the events of the last few weeks.
Kurosaki came out of his battle with Byakuya nearly unscathed, while Abarai and Byakuya both got beaten up pretty badly. Apparently, Byakuya was more pissed with Abarai for the disgraceful nickname he’d invented for his zanpakuto than anything. Just the next day Byakuya met with his family’s elders, Kuchiki, and Kurosaki to begin preparations for the wedding ceremony in Seireitei. And by now, Byakuya couldn’t get over the fact that he was going to have another niece. This would be the closest to his own flesh and blood he could achieve yet.
Kuchiki, now a little over four months along, and with the insistence of her new husband and brother, had been removed from any duties involving strenuous activity. Mostly hollow patrols. Matsumoto had to admit, she was a bit jealous, as were most of the women who knew of the arrangements.
Sometime soon after regaling in this moment, Matsumoto drifted back into sleep, resting her upper body along Hitsugaya’s still sleeping form.
When next Matsumoto opened her eyes, she noticed Hitsugaya standing and looking down at her. He wore a look of intense discomfort and worry. Becoming slightly concerned, but unable to show much care still being half-asleep, she asked groggily, “What’s wrong, Toshiro?”
He jumped slightly, not realizing she had woken. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he began to explain, “We’re being sent on a mission. Only for around four days, but there are some strong hollows appearing in the world of the living. I don’t know why they couldn’t send Kuchiki and Kurosaki, since we’re going to Karakura, but it seems since she’s pregnant, and Kurosaki is overprotective…” he trailed off, neither needing further explanation.
Matsumoto took a moment to understand everything he’d just said. When she comprehended all of it, she sat up excitedly, almost popping out of her shihakushou. “I can go and visit Orihime-chan again!” she exclaimed, looking excited.
Hitsugaya frowned. “Actually, Rangiku, we’ve secured our own flat in Karakura, just for use by the shinigami, and it is stocked and furnished.”
Matsumoto’s face fell, “Oh, well, I can still visit her, can’t I?” she asked, not seeing why she would not be able to see the girl.
Hitsugaya shrugged, “I suppose so. We just don’t have to stay with her again,” he stated. Seeing the glint in her eye he quickly added, “We do not have to and we are not going to stay with her.”
Sighing heavily, Matsumoto stood and smiled before responding, “Well, I need to get packed then, don’t I? And I can’t wait to take Orihime-chan shopping with me. It’ll be so much fun, eh, Taicho?” Hitsugaya could think of nothing to do or say but roll his eyes.
Inoue answered the knock on her door, calling out to her guests that she would be back in a moment. Matsumoto stood on the other side waiting with a very impatient Hitsugaya. He tried to cross his arms but found it difficult to do when one hand is preoccupied with holding someone else’s. His scowl deepened instead.
He grumbled, “I thought you were headed in the direction of a hollow, not Inoue and Ishida and whoever else may be inside there…”
“Ah, Toshiro, it sounds like a party. Maybe they’re having drinks and playing games?” Matsumoto asked, sounding hopeful as Inoue opened the door.
“Rangiku-san? Hitsugaya-kun?” Inoue asked, surprised. Matsumoto smiled and hugged Inoue tightly, relinquishing the death grip on Hitsugaya’s hand and allowing him to cross his arms unhappily.
“Orihime-chan!” Matsumoto squealed. “We’re here on a mission and I just had to drop by to say hello and arrange a shopping trip.”
Inoue looked surprised and a bit uncomfortable. She scratched her head absently as she replied, “Oh, that sounds wonderful. Um, uh, would you like to come in for a bit?”
She stood to the side allowing Matsumoto and an unwilling Hitsugaya, literally being dragged, to come inside her flat. The three retreated to the living area and were greeted by Ishida, Sado, and Arisawa.
Ishida noticed a few things about the entrance of Hitsugaya and Matsumoto no one else seemed to notice. For example, Matsumoto wore a shiny gold ring on just the right finger. Hitsugaya didn’t fuss as she drug him inside the door by the hand. And despite the circumstances, Hitsugaya’s scowls never reached his eyes. He was happy. Ishida fought down a look of surprise. He guessed that it would happen, and soon, but he had not been prepared for this soon. There must be something going on behind the scenes he was unaware of to be caught by surprise like this.
“Are we interrupting anything, Inoue?” Hitsugaya asked upon seeing the small gathering in Inoue’s flat.
“Oh, no, no!” Inoue assured them. “We just gathered to watch a movie. You’re welcome to stay if you like, we’re having popcorn, and I have butter, chocolate sauce, and chili sauce for toppings!” Hitsugaya became increasingly more worried for the girl’s sanity every time he spoke to her. He supposed butter was a natural choice, and chocolate wouldn’t be too bad, but he was concerned about the chili topping.
“Can we stay, Toshiro?” Matsumoto pleaded, “I haven’t seen Orihime-chan in so long, and I haven’t had her cooking in forever, either…”
Hitsugaya furrowed his brows and sighed in defeat. They may as well, no hollows were being reported currently, and he wanted to know just what this movie thing was, anyway. “Che, fine, whatever. But we can’t stay for too long, we haven’t even seen our own flat yet,” he conceded. Ishida quirked an eyebrow at the exchange; it appeared he guessed correctly. Silently he prepared himself for the inevitable exchange of squeals to come.
Matsumoto and Hitsugaya took a seat on the floor in front of the sofa, and she lay her head in his lap. Ishida noticed a soft, almost imperceptible smile cross Hitsugaya’s features as he began absently running his fingers through her hair.
“This is called ‘Star Wars Episode VI’,” Inoue announced. “It’s a bit old, but it is very good, a classic I guess, and we all agreed on it, so…” she shrugged. She left the room momentarily and returned with three large bowls of popcorn, each covered in something different. Hitsugaya politely refused, but Matsumoto tried each one, declaring the chocolate covered bowl to be the best. She somehow managed to stuff a few pieces into an unhappy Hitsugaya’s mouth. He coughed and tried to keep himself from choking on the snack.
When he recovered, he threw a harsh look to Matsumoto, “Are you trying to kill me, woman?”
Matsumoto giggled, as did the other females, and chattered happily as she hugged Hitsugaya, “Of course not, Toshiro! That would be a horrible thing to do, and what would I do without you?”
Hitsugaya mumbled something, and Ishida was certain it sounded along the lines of ‘You’ll never have children, then. Or are you trying to take over my position?’ Being ever perceptive, and having the grace to try to have tact with such matters (tact being a learned trait, most definitely, which Ishida prided himself for having, whereas his rival, Kurosaki, lacked this) Ishida resigned to speak to the obvious couple after the gathering.
Arisawa looked bewildered by the entire exchange. Ishida did chuckle softly and he noticed Sado smiling, presumably because of Arisawa.
Finally, the commotion ended and the group settled in to watch the movie. Hitsugaya rather enjoyed himself. Inoue may have terrible taste in food, but she did have good taste in entertainment. Or rather, Hitsugaya guessed, she had friends with that good taste.
After the movie, Arisawa and Inoue retreated to the kitchen, gathering glasses and bowls along the way. Not long after the cleanup, Arisawa and Sado excused themselves, Arisawa claiming her practice started soon and Sado claiming he had someone else to meet. Hitsugaya made a halfhearted attempt to drag Matsumoto from Inoue’s flat, but didn’t argue or sulk much when she pouted to stay a while longer.
“Rangiku-san, Hitsugaya-kun, would you like to stay for dinner? Ishida-kun and I always eat together; since he moved in last month neither of us have missed a meal. Tonight we’re cooking fish,” Inoue announced, happily inviting the couple to stay for dinner. Matsumoto looked pleadingly to Hitsugaya, who shrugged in response. At least if Ishida was helping, it should come out being edible.
When the dinner preparations were well underway, Ishida found his moment to inquire about his ‘observations.’ He glanced at Inoue, motioning toward Matsumoto’s hands, “Rangiku-san, may I look at the ring you’re wearing?” he asked politely.
Matsumoto’s eyes lit up, “Of course!” she exclaimed, presenting her hand to Ishida for further inspection. He and Inoue looked closely at it, as realization dawned on Inoue.
“Rangiku-san, is that an engagement ring?” Inoue squealed, becoming increasingly excited for the older woman. Being caught off-guard (everyone in Seireitei knew by now), Matsumoto simply nodded. Inoue wrapped her arms tightly around her, “Oh! Congratulations. I knew it would happen. The last time Kuchiki-san and Kurosaki-kun were in they said that you were together, but I never guessed they meant like this. But I haven’t seen them in so very long. The last time we saw them they said you were sitting little Nel. She’s so adorable, isn’t she? I hope that their new baby will be just as cute. Even though Nel isn’t really their child…” Inoue continued rambling until Ishida cleared his throat noticeably.
“Orihime, we should really return to cooking. We can congratulate them later. But right now I think our fish is burning,” Ishida pried Inoue and Matsumoto apart.
All the while Hitsugaya sat at the table, looking unsure of himself and worried. Did Kurosaki or Kuchiki mention why they were together? And why was Ishida living with Inoue?
“Rangiku-san,” Inoue turned around suddenly to face Matsumoto, “if you and Hitsugaya-kun would like more childcare practice, you can come and help me at the kindergarten I work at.” Apparently Kuchiki probably did mention why they were together. Hitsugaya promised himself to arrange for her to be assigned plenty of work in repayment. After her child was delivered, of course. Though there were always the horrendous amounts of the tenth division’s paperwork…
Dinner with Inoue and Ishida passed smoothly enough. Ishida and Matsumoto agreed that she would enjoy a western-style wedding more than a traditional, and Ishida agreed to make all of the dresses and suits for the event. Matsumoto did not know what colors she wanted, but she knew she did not want a white dress. Ishida agreed to meet with Matsumoto and Hitsugaya (it was his wedding, too) again before they returned to Seireitei to finalize a few of the early arrangements.
Hitsugaya also discovered that Ishida moved in with Inoue to escape his father’s overbearing household. Since his graduation from high school, he decided to take a few classes at Tokyo University, under a major that his father disapproved of: Fashion Design. Inoue took teaching classes there, as well.
“You can stop by around two-thirty tomorrow. They’ll be so happy to see you! The kids always love to have a guest,” Inoue chattered happily as she saw Matsumoto and Hitsugaya out the door.
“Of course, Orihime! I can’t wait,” Matsumoto replied, equally as happy and excited as Inoue. Hitsugaya could think of nothing polite to say so instead chose to keep his mouth shut. He did give a small wave and mumble goodbye.
Hitsugaya never thought he would be so happy to see a bed he could call his. The furnishings of the flat looked very much the same as those used for a highly seated officer. Only the necessary things, a bed or futon in each bedroom, a sofa and small table in the living area, and a table and seating for dining. The flat here, however, did come stocked with just about every foodstuff either of them had ever seen in the human world. And he suspected Urahara as the culprit for most of the things he found.
And, walking into the first small bedroom, amazed they could find a flat with two, he realized that Matsumoto was much happier than he to see the bed. Take three extra-large hollows, of very low Arrancar level, add in one Menos, and slowly subtract strength and patience, and you end up with two very exhausted shinigami trudging home at three a.m. Taicho or no, those normal-hollow-gone-Arrancar were just tiring.
He finally made it out of the shower and forced Matsumoto to one side of the bed so he could climb in. In all of three minutes he, too, was sound asleep.
Having neither one awoken before one in the afternoon, and with dinner and Matsumoto getting herself ready, the pair were very nearly late. It never helps matters when one of your pair doesn’t want to help, either.
This is embarrassing, Hitsugaya thought.
‘What is, Master?’ Hitsugaya groaned with the input from the ice dragon.
It’s none of your business, Hitsugaya retorted.
‘So, first you exploit me for your own means for those Ice Diamonds, and now you won’t even bother to converse with me?’ Hyourinmaru sounded genuinely hurt. Hitsugaya found an image in his head of the dragon frowning and a tear trickling down his face.
Hitsugaya groaned. He hadn’t been trying to hurt the dragon’s feelings, he simply found it difficult to carry on a conversation with anyone besides Matsumoto and trust her to lead him without running into things. Gomen, Hyourinmaru. I certainly did not try to exploit you. It was for Matsumoto. Though I’m sure we could make all kinds of money if we made them and sold them… Hitsugaya smiled at the thought, it seemed to cheer his friend up quite a bit. I just feel like the people here think I’m being drug through the streets by my sister. And, well, thinking of Ran as a sister is just… creepy.
Matsumoto interrupted their conversation, announcing loudly that they had arrived at the kindergarten. “Oh, look at all the kids! And there’s Orihime-chan, waiting for us,” she squealed, hurting Hitsugaya’s ears.
“Joy, we get to baby-sit not one, not two, but thirty children. All at once,” Hitsugaya intoned dryly.
“Oh, I know, isn’t it great?” Matsumoto chimed, purposely disregarding the sarcasm in his voice. She ran up to Inoue, dragging Hitsugaya along. He grumbled inaudibly as he was being dragged down the short sidewalk to the gate.
Inoue met them at the gate of the small fenced-in yard, and hugged them both tightly, much to Hitsugaya’s dismay. Soon after she introduced them to the children in the class. Hitsugaya tried to smile and pretend to be happy to be there, whereas Matsumoto had no trouble with genuinely being happy. They tried to help Inoue entertain the children outdoors.
Matsumoto and Hitsugaya found themselves helping kids on the swings. While standing back and observing the children, Hitsugaya noticed a tug on his sleeve. He looked around, expecting Matsumoto to be the culprit, but found a small girl with light hair and green eyes.
“Yes?” asked Hitsugaya. He tried to quickly soften his usual scowl so that he didn’t scare the poor child.
“Um, Hitsugaya-san…” she began, becoming bashful, “Will you… push me?”
Not really knowing what else to do, he consented. “You’re Sekina, correct?” he asked. She nodded, smiling brightly. He then helped her into a swing and began to push her lightly. Before Hitsugaya finished pushing Sekina and turned around, a small boy came to stand a few feet away, glaring menacingly at Hitsugaya, hands on his hips.
Hitsugaya turned and noticed the boy. “Is something wrong?” he asked, again unsure how to handle the situation. The boy continued glaring before working up the courage to speak. Tired of waiting for a response, Hitsugaya tried again, “What’s your name? I’m afraid I don’t remember.”
“I’m Toku,” replied the boy, anger and… jealousy, Hitsugaya decided, tinting his voice, “and that’s my Sekina.” The boy pointed to the girl on the swings, singing happily to herself.
‘Yare, Master. It seems you’ve gained a new enemy thanks to your prowess with the females. I like to think I had a small part in that, helping to teach you how to woo women without even seriously trying,’ Hitsugaya heard Hyourinmaru gloat.
Shut up, he muttered under his breath. Toku heard the mutterings and started sobbing angry tears.
“Orihime-san!” Toku cried, “Orihime-san, Hitsugaya-san told me to shut up! And he stole Sekina away from me!”
Hastily trying to rectify the situation, Hitsugaya scrambled for words to apologize, “I’m sorry, Toku-kun. Really. I was, um… talking to my… imaginary friend, Hyourinmaru. Um, he… uh, said something not very nice and I was trying to get him to be quiet and stop saying those mean things. And I certainly am not trying to steal Sekina from you. Is she your girlfriend?” Hitsugaya finally managed to say something to quell the boy’s tears.
Toku nodded, smiling shyly. “She’s been my girlfriend since the first day of kindergarten. Mieko used to be my girlfriend, but she moved away, so Sekina’s my girlfriend now.”
“Well,” interrupted Matsumoto, very much to Hitsugaya’s relief, “You should go and push her then, don’t you think? Toshiro-kun needs to tend to his own girlfriend instead of someone else’s, doesn’t he?”
Hitsugaya gave Matsumoto a questioning look, but Toku grinned eagerly at her. “Are you his girlfriend?” he asked her. Matsumoto nodded and smiled. Toku turned to Hitsugaya, “At least you’re not as creepy looking as the guy that comes to see Orihime-san sometimes. He has funny hair and funny eyes,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “I think she could do better than him. She could have me, you know? Sekina said I could have another girlfriend…”
Matsumoto giggled and even Hitsugaya found himself chuckling softly. “Trust me,” he told Toku. He crouched down to be eye level with the boy, which, sadly, still wasn’t very far, “You only want one girlfriend. Especially as you get older. They are entirely too much trouble to have more than one at a time.”
“Really?” Toku asked in disbelief. Hitsugaya nodded firmly while Matsumoto squeaked an indignant ‘Toshiro!’ Toku appeared to think this advice over and finally returned an answer, “Okay then. But I still think Orihime-san can do better.”
“As long as he’s always nice to her and loves her, then it doesn’t matter what he looks like,” Matsumoto assured him. Although she hadn’t the faintest idea who Orihime seemed to be seeing… She guessed at Ishida, but neither acted like a couple. Could there be someone else? But who?
Not much time after, Matsumoto was caught stealing a kiss from Hitsugaya beneath a tree. “Oooh, they’re kissing!” shouted the girl identified as Sekina. “That’s gross!” Matsumoto blushed along with Hitsugaya as they looked at the small crowd of about five or six students (neither was sure if one boy was really paying attention to them or not). All students seemed to share Sekina’s sentiment. Inoue came over to see about the commotion.
“Orihime-san, they were kissing!” Sekina tattled. Inoue smiled and laughed a bit nervously.
“Really? Heh-heh. What do you think we should make them do for breaking the rules, then?” she settled for asking.
“I know,” said Toku, “Make them sit in time-out for a long, long time until they learn that we don’t do things like that at school.”
Hitsugaya scowled, his mood becoming dark, and fought to keep his reiatsu from dropping the temperature. Matsumoto sensed this and tried to work her way out of their situation. “But, we didn’t know kissing was against the rules. And it was my fault, seeing as I kissed him. So don’t punish him, okay?” she pouted.
“Nuh-huh, I saw him kiss you, too!” declared Sekina. Toku nodded his head fervently and the rest of the children joined in.
“That means a long, long time in the time-out corner,” Toku stated. Inoue looked apologetically at the couple and bit her lip.
“They’re right, Rangiku-san, Hitsugaya-kun. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,” Inoue stated the phrase and the children all joined in, “And the punishment for kissing at school is five minutes in time-out,” Inoue ducked her head at Hitsugaya’s dark, incredulous scowl and Matsumoto’s nervousness over her taicho.
Hitsugaya, in a last ditch effort to calm himself, heaved a sigh and decided to placate the children. Surely, he could sit quietly for five minutes in a corner. Assuming Matsumoto would allow him to… “Toku-kun is right. We broke the rules and we need disciplined. Inoue-san, tell us what we have to do.” Inoue looked incredibly surprised and smiled apologetically again.
“Very well then,” Inoue said, taking each of the other adults by a hand and leading them inside. The children seemed morbidly curious with the actions and all twenty-two followed inside.
Inoue directed them to a corner with nothing but a small chair in the immediate vicinity. She pointed to it, saying, “You have to sit in this corner until your time is up. You can’t talk to your friends and you don’t get to participate in the next activity until it’s up.” Matsumoto did an excellent job of holding in her laughter as she watched Hitsugaya. He looked as though he really had died from embarrassment. They both took a seat on the floor, their backs against the wall. He sat with arms crossed over his chest, and she dared not try to hold his hand or anything, lest they lengthen their ‘sentence.’
The children and Orihime moved happily on to their next task, which turned out to be finger-painting. Matsumoto noticed Sekina painting a picture of a figure with white hair and green eyes, and told this to Hitsugaya.
“Looks like I have to share you with someone else now…” she pouted playfully, “I have to share with Nel and Rukia and Ichigo’s new baby girl as it is, and now Sekina, and her two little friends there seem to like you well, too.” She lightly jabbed Hitsugaya in the ribs, making him scowl again.
When finally they were released from their prison, as Hitsugaya later called it, Hitsugaya made a statement and a new rule regarding his person. “I refuse to ever volunteer to help anyone, even Yamamoto, or god himself, at a kindergarten or anything similar ever again,” he intoned. Noticing Matsumoto’s pout he added quickly, “And I refuse to help you, woman. Under no circumstances will I set foot in one of those again. And you had to go and get us put in time-out. How utterly mortifying. I knew you were trying to kill me.”
Matsumoto let him grumble as they made their way to the shinigami flat they were stationed in. behind closed doors Matsumoto declared that no one could place them in time-out before she smothered Hitsugaya with a hug and many, many kisses. They stayed wrapped in each other until they grudgingly went after the hollows they were sent to vanquish in the first place.
Hitsugaya was back to cursing the existence of the hollows.