Hide and Seek

-10-



Toshiro watched as the lights around the city went low, he looked outside the window. The snow fell slowly, time went so slow here in the human world.But he kind of liked it, Toshiro looked over to his lieutenant who was sound asleep. He smiled warmly at her, he didn't have a clue what she went through the last couple of days but he liked how happy she looked. For once he was happy she was sleeping. He closed his eyes and decided to leave her alone in the room for a little. He shut the door behind him and saw Grimmjow outside the door. His eyes widened " What are you doing?" Toshiro asked at the man laying on the floor close to the wall.



" It's warm." He said opening one eye.



Toshiro noticed the heat duct next to the teal haired man. Grimmjow was very how could he say...cat like. He shrugged it off and continued down the stairs to the kitchen, he grabbed a box that was left out and labeled to him. " Toshiro! For you!" He laughed a bit and opened the box. It was full of these slender sticks that were dipped in chocolate. He took one out of the box and crunched down on one. It was pretty good, he pulled the stick away and looked at the box " Pocky." He smiled eating another, and then another. He was about to eat another when Grimmjow spoke " You know, your friend is quiet a good fighter." He laughed taking a seat at the table.



"...you fought her?" Toshiro asked.



" I took her from Gin's grasp and she turned the tables that is for damn sure. " He said pushing his fingers through his blue hair.



"I know she is a fighter. I hope she didn't get hurt to bad...you know." Toshiro said looking away.



"She was." Grimmjow said as gently as he could. " I tried stopping them...but..-



" I thank you for trying. It does not matter if you did not succeed. You tried, as her captain and...friend. Thank you." Toshiro nodded " I owe you." He said.



"Ehh...sure your welcome. So why do you guys have so much green and red stuff everywhere?" He asked.



"something called-



"Christmas.Its called Christmas. Its to celebrate the joys of being together...well there is some religion involved...but...we don't do that part of the celebration." Ichigo stated sitting down.



"Oh. The tree looks cool, its itchy though." Grimmjow said.



"You rubbed it? Uh...ok."



Toshiro leaned forward " He is kind of like a cat." He whispered.



" Ohhh."



"I heard that." Grimmjow growled.



"Its not a bad thing." Ichigo laughed.



"Whatever." He said turning his head.



"So you found Ukitake's pocky?He said you would like it." He laughed.



"errr." Toshiro thought of Ukitake all excitedly handing Ichigo the pocky. " Dammit." He grumbled.



"So how is she Toshiro?" Ichigo wondered.



" She is...sleeping soundly upstairs." He said closing his eyes.



"That's probably good." Ichigo replied.



"She didn't sleep much in Heuco Mundo." Grimmjow said.



"I want to ask what happen to her...but at the same time I would feel wrong hearing it from you." Toshiro spoke low.



"You don't want to know. Trust me." he stated.



The door opened and Rukia and Renji walked in through the door, letting the chilling air inside. Toshiro didn't budge at the temperature change but the other two shivered in surprise. Rukia smiled walking in the house at the group. Rukia and Renji both had bags in there hands and set them on the floor by the door. " Its sooo cold!" Rukia shrieked locking the door.



"I thought it was quite nice." Toshiro stated standing up to help the crowd unpack.



It was suddenly quiet, he turned to the others. 'why are they staring at me like this.' He wondered.



Renji rolled his eyes " Ice king." He scoffed.



"I like the snow." Toshiro stated.



The crowd all put the stuff away and began to chit chat here and there, when finally they all talked. Even Grimmjow joined in, they all joked about things and told short stories of funny things that had happen at one point. No one fought, no one argued, it was like a family. Toshiro had never experienced anything like it, neither had Grimmjow.



Rukia stood up and decided to make one batch of chocolate chip cookies early. She had bought 3 tubes of the mix and decided making one early would be nice for the whole group. Byakuya walked down the stairs and saw everyone sitting around talking. He took a seat next to Renji and watched as everyone conversed. He looked over to Rukia and decided to help her out. Rukia was more than happy to have her brother help out a bit.



The smell filled the house and woke even the heaviest sleeper.

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Rangiku breathed slowly and couldn't help but open her eyes. She looked around with sleepy covered eyes. She yawned stretching her limbs. She could feel her wounds kick her in her nerves. She breathed in sharply ' Damn...this hurts.' her thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar of laughter. She sat up and looked around, Toshiro was probably downstairs with them. She smiled, she was finally able to relax. Rangiku stood up and went to the shower. She took a quick one and washed her hair with cherry blossom shampoo and conditioner. Just what she needed a hot shower to relax her body from the destruction of the last couple of days.



She patted herself dry and put on some clothes that were outside on the bed. ' When did they get there?' she wondered walking slowly over to the bed.



There was a note on the clothes " To: Rangiku, From: Ichigo and Rukia. Thought you might like to where it early." She smiled looking down at the clothes. It was a pair of jeans and a nice black shirt, it was big enough for her and not to tight. She smiled warmly " Thank you." She whispered putting them on. She dried her hair and decided it was time to go downstairs.



She stepped out the door and saw Ulquiorra stepping outside of his room as well. She looked into his eyes "Hey." She waved.



"..." He turned to her.



Rukia walked up the stairs halfway to see Rangiku " Oh you look so good!" She exclaimed.



"Thanks Rukia, is Ichigo down there?" She asked "I have to thank him too." She smiled warmly.



"Yeah we are all down here. You coming down? You don't have to if you don't want to. I brought this up for you.' Rukia smiled showing her the paper covered cookies. She wrapped them up so they would stay warm.



" I am ready to come down" she smiled reassuringly.



Rukia excitedly ran down the stairs to inform people. Rangiku slowly turned to Ulquiorra he spoke low " I apologize for-



"Don't worry about it." She smiled taking his hand and guided him down the stairs. Ulquiorra was confused he had never felt so at peace. Rangiku stepped in and everyone silenced.



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Toshiro looked up to see Rangiku in some new clothes, he didn't smile often but now was a good time to do so. He gave her a smile and before he could say anything she sat down and said " I just wanted to say...thank you...to all of you." she smiled. " I don't really know how to express how thankful I am to-



"Rangiku I wasn't going to just leave you there. Even if none of them came with me, I would have still." Toshiro said.



"He was planning on going on his own.But I couldn't let him do that, he would have been a dead man." Ichigo laughed.



Rukia smiled" Your welcome"



"As long as you are ok, then everything is great." Renji stated.



"Well...it will take some time for me to fully be up and active...but other than that I am alive." She smiled.



Rukia turned around and brought the cookies to the table, and asked if anyone wanted some milk. Toshiro, Grimmjow, Rangiku, Ulquiorra and Byakuya had not a clue what milk was. They all stared at her blankly.



"Its...uh...stuff that taste good with...cookies?" Rukia said looking to Ichigo for help.



"Do you remember how weirded out you were when I told you what it was. I am not going through that again." Ichigo said doing a pushing motion with his hands.



"Now I want to know." Grimmjow laughed.



"I agree." Byakuya stated.



"It can't be that bad." Rangiku assured.



Ichigo let out a sigh...'ok think of the wording...wording.'



----------flashback----------------



"Ichigo what is this white stuff in here? There is a big jug of it." Rukia asked.



"Its called milk."



"milk?"



"It comes from cows."



"Cows?"



"Four legged creatures who we eat?Go moo?" He paused" Nothing? ok..." Ichigo went to the computer and brought up a picture of a cow."



"aww!!!Its so cute!"



"It comes from that."



"Where?" She asked.



"uhhh...it doesn't matter where."Ichigo scoffed.



"yeah it does..."



"Its utters...which are kind of like...your boobs..."



Rukia paused for a moment and looked at her breasts. "oh...like what babies...eat...ok." She nodded.



-------------flashback over-------------------



"AHA! Its like the stuff you give babies, but better...it comes from cows." He nodded.



"Babies??" They all looked at each other in confusion.



Rukia sighed and stood up and said walking away " I got the picture." She laughed.



About 15 minutes into explaining they understood finally what it was. Only one actually took a glass after the explanation Toshiro. Rukia and Ichigo had a glass and a couple of cookies. Toshiro was amazed at the invention of cookies.



He had been to the human world a couple of times and never had cookies. " These are really good Rukia!" He exclaimed.



The crowd weeded out a bit as the night went on. Ichigo and Rukia both were washing dishes together. Grimmjow went up stairs to bed and slowly after Ulquiorra went up as well. Renji went to shower and Byakuya went to bed as well. Rangiku and Toshiro were left quietly drinking a soda.



She looked up to him " Why aren't you wearing your captains robe?" She asked curiously.



"When you left...central 46 declared you dead." He sighed and looked up to her" They ordered for all the squads to carry on normal daily routine. I didn't believe them and turned in my robe."



"YOU WHAT!? Well I am alive now, so we can go back and get it back right!?" She exclaimed.



"...I hope." He stated.



"...Captain..." She whispered feeling tears build up. " I never wanted any of this to happen...I am so...sorry." She said wiping some of the tears away.



"Rangiku...you didn't ask me to. I did it, it was my choice. It had nothing to do with anything you did. It's not like you chose to go." Toshiro Reassured.

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Ichigo looked back at him and turned back to the soapy water. " You think she will be ok?" He asked Rukia.



"I hope. She was...forced you know." She stated.



"How do you know?" Ichigo asked.



"I just look at her and see something was taken away, I don't know what.But I just see that in her.She is a strong girl but she isn't going to go back to normal so quickly. It will take some time." Rukia said looking over to Ichigo's sullen face. Rukia bumped hips with him. " Don't worry we gave her a good night. She was smiling and its all thanks to your home." She smiled.



"Yeah. Your right. I had a pretty good night,you guys are my family you know that?" He said leaning over to her and kissing her cheek softly.

--------------------



Rangiku looked up to the two and saw Ichigo leaning over and kissing her " Aww." She smiled wiping her tears away " He finally asked her?" She laughed.



"I guess they have been dating for a while.Rangiku want to go for a walk with me?" He asked.



"Uh...its a little cold isn't?" She asked looking outside to see the snow falling gently.



"Yeah but I figured we could take a stroll." He asked standing up.



"Sure." She nodded.



Rangiku walked over to Ichigo " Can I borrow your one jacket with the fuzzies on it?" She smiled.



He pointed to the closet and said "Sure." he added.

------------------------



Toshiro walked out with his small jacket and waited for her to catch up. She hurried up to him and placed her hands in her pockets. Toshiro walked quietly for a moment and finally turned to her. " Rangiku. If I am not allowed to go back to the soul society...I want you to stay" He stated.



"Wait what makes you think you are not going to be able to stay there? I mean you are right, your proving them wrong." She added.



"This is true, but I disobeyed a direct order. You know how they are about this." Toshiro spoke gently.



She looked into his eyes and noticed she hardly had to look down anymore. She just looked forward at him. He was about 5'5 now. She couldn't believe how tall he was getting. She let a tear fall down her face " Toshiro...I don't think I could make it there...without you." She sulked.



"...Rangiku, I think you coul-



"...Toshiro...."



"For me.Please." He said gazing into her ice eyes.



She closed her eyes shut wishing it were a dream " yes sir." She choked on her own tears.



"Toshiro.You"He pointed to her"call me Toshiro when we are alone." he smiled.



'He is smiling at me, why is he smiling at me. Do I have something on my face. What did I do? Why is he smiling. Should I ask?' she wondered.



"Toshiro...Thank you for taking me from that place." She said walking forward.



"Can I ask what happen. I just was wo-



"I was raped,beaten, and the worse part is it replays in my head over and over again. I hate this." She stated.



"We are going to have to get you checked out as soon as morning comes."



"I was pathetic captain. I couldn't fight back...when I did...I was...I was



"Hush, you did what you had to do. The main thing is your alive and here, don't worry about the past ok?" He smiled stopping in front of her. He reached up and kissed her cheek " God you don't even know how happy I am that you are alright..." He said moving to her lips. She blushed and really couldn't believe this was happening. The snow fell to her red cheeks and made her shiver...or was that the kiss. She closed her eyes and returned the soft kiss. The two pulled away and she sneezed.



Toshiro laughed and she chimed in and laughed as well. " Yeah...lets go back now." He said motioning back to the house.



She smiled and nodded blushing. ' oh my gosh get a hold of yourself. Girl your acting like a school girl. But god is he dreamy' Her Zanpacktou said to her in her head.



Rangiku chuckled out loud and smiled big and walked along side him in the cold winter night. That night the two went to sleep, Toshiro slept on the floor and she slept on the bed and the morning would come sooner than they thought.







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Author note: So I wasn't going to add another chapter for a while...but here I am LOL. I am going to put a chapter out every Tuesday. So I can give people time to read and all that jazz. So every Tuesday the night the bleach is released in japan, you will get a new chapter. Please be kind in your comments, happy holidays.



Speechless= Lady Gaga, the song is really about her father...or so I heard. But I thought the song was fitting for the chapter.