Leave Out All the Rest

Hello,

Ok, here is the new chapter. Mhm, like the others there may be some OoC, drama and...it would be good if I tell you that things happen a little fats in this so you know. Thank you to all of you that had review and read the story, I really appreaciate and love all your comments!. I know I've tell you this a lot but, Thank you so much Rachel for your help with this story!!

So,here is the chapter. Read, enjoy and review!

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Chapter 10


Is as simple as this

Hitsugaya knew that the conversation wasn’t going to be easy, and it was going to be a real pain if Matsumoto kept being that defiant. He looked at her and saw the way she was playing with her hair and looking everywhere but him, how she had a little frown on her face that in reality didn’t suit her always cheerful expression. He saw for a moment how her other hand placed itself on her stomach, and Hitsugaya felt his heart clench.

Right at that moment neither of them were shinigami nor Taichou or Fukutaichou. They were simply Matsumoto Rangiku and Hitsugaya Toushirou. And that was rather terrifying because he was about to present himself to her, to offer himself to her…and the possibility of rejection was there.

“Well? Are you going to say anything, Hitsugaya-taichou?” she asked rather impatiently.

“Would you please stop calling me that,” he said with a tired voice and a hand on the bridge of his nose.

“How? Hitsugaya-taichou?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that your title, Hitsugaya-taichou? Shouldn’t I refer to you with that formality, Hitsugaya-taichou?” He glared at her but she merely smirked at his obvious annoyance.

“Why are you making this more difficult than it already is?” he asked, a little tired; Matsumoto narrowed her eyes at him.

“Difficult? Do you have any idea how I feel?” she asked with her voice full of anger. “Do you have any idea how betrayed I feel all over again!!”

“No, I don’t,” said Hitsugaya, “I know that what I did was wrong, and I apologize for that. I shouldn’t have, but I did it. And believe me when I say that I’ve paid the price of that night.”

“That you paid the price?” said Matsumoto, not believing what her taichou was saying. “You‘re not the one pregnant! You’re not the one that has to obey the orders from a man that you thought was respectable and that you meant more to that a one-night stand!”

The conversation certainly wasn’t going the way Hitsugaya had planned; things were getting out of hand and he was starting to lose his temper just as much as Matsumoto was losing hers.

“Why did you do it? Why did you leave me like this?!” and suddenly she broke, tears started falling from her eyes and she looked with intensity at Hitsugaya. “How could it be that the price you paid for that night is higher than mine?”

“You said his name.” Matsumoto blinked and focused her attention once again on her taichou.

“What?”

“You…you said his name, over and over…” Matsumoto looked shocked at hearing that confession. “But I didn’t care because you were… happy and not as miserable as you had been before that. Even… even if it wasn’t me you thought about.”

“You couldn’t have expected me to say your name…when I was still thinking about Gin.”

As soon as those words left her mouth Matsumoto regretted them; Hitsugaya flinched in pain, he let out a grimace and tried to smile at her but failed. For Matsumoto, it wasn’t the fact that they had slept together. She could deal with that and blame it all on the alcohol and her own taichou’s mental state after the treason. What made her angry was that he never said anything, he never apologized…that he left her just like he had done so many times!

And as if that wasn’t enough, he had put on her a burden that she wasn’t sure she was ready to take…and she was afraid that she had to take it alone. As always.

“I know it is rather stupid, but at that moment…it was so easy to…to…”

“To what?”

“To have you in my arms, to have the opportunity to be with you.”

There was a very long silence in which Matsumoto was processing all that information; she was trying to understand the broken tone in her taichou’s voice, the pain so evident in his eyes. But she didn’t understand completely, and a part of her was afraid to find out.

“Why? Why was it so important to you to have me in your arms, to be with me?” she said in a soft whisper, not really noticing that she had asked those questions out loud.

Hitsugaya gulped and looked over at her before making his way towards her. Matsumoto gasped in surprise and froze in place when she felt a pair of hands grab her by her cheeks, a forehead against hers and a pair of teal-emerald eyes were looking at her with such affection and longing, that she felt herself blush and her heart rate speed up.

“Because I love you,” he said with a firm and gentle voice. “I’m in love with you.”

It felt so good to finally say that out loud, to actually say those words to her. He looked at her while his thumb was caressing her cheek and his eyes were lost in hers; he wanted to kiss her very slowly and show her just how much he meant those words. But he didn’t, it wasn’t the right time for that; he was there to give her some answers and in the processes gain some answers as well.

They stayed like that for a long time, looking into each others eyes and trying to understand the situation they were in. Matsumoto was really confused now and she was uncertain as to what to do, what could be the right thing to do. She looked at her taichou and suddenly was very aware of their closeness; she could feel his cold breath on her lips and his hands holding her face gently, and she was overcome with a sudden urge to kiss him.

“I don’t love you,” that, certainly, wasn’t the right thing to do or say.

Hitsugaya felt heartbroken at those words, he closed his eyes and let go of Matsumoto, walking away from her. Really, what did he expect? That she would throw herself at him and tell him the same? How stupid he had been, how stupid he felt when he noticed that that was exactly what possibility he was considering.

He felt a hand on his wrist and once again he found himself face to face with Matsumoto. She was looking at him with an unreadable expression. This time it was her hand on his cheek and he felt himself blushing at the contact.

“Let me finish, please?” she asked in a soft whisper, to which he answered with a nod. “I don’t love you like that…at least not yet.”

“What?” he looked at her not really believing what he had just heard, she let out a small smile.

“I said that, I was starting to like you, I just don’t love you that way, yet.”

“Yet? You mean…you could…you would give me a chance?” he asked with hope in his voice. “Are you serious?”

Matsumoto’s words had opened his mind to a whole world of possibilities in which he had the chance to be with her, in which there was a tiny possibility that she may like him and in the end fall in love with him. But, what if it was a trick? What if it was some kind of revenge?

Come on Toushirou, you have to give her some credit…she isn’t like that.

‘But what if…’

Oh, for God’s sake, this is what you wanted from the beginning. This is what we wanted. You don’t have to tell her anything about the mark yet, conquer her and make her yours just like your grandma told you that day…

“I’m being very dead serious, Taichou,” she said, taking his hands in hers and placing them on her stomach. He opened his eyes in surprise, understanding the meaning behind Matsumoto’s act.

“You…you knew?” was the only thing he could say.

“I’m not that oblivious,” she said smiling a little. She felt Haineko glare inside her and with a little pout she continued. “But Haineko was the one that confirmed what Yumichika said.”

Hitsugaya wanted to ask what Ayagesawa had had to do with the fact that she knew she was pregnant, but decided that there were other things that needed his attention. With trembling hands he caressed Matsumoto’s belly, softly trying to maintain his blush at bay, but failing miserably at it. Matsumoto was not in a much better condition since she had a blush of her own.

“So, you knew about it too, right?”

“Yes, I…I overhead a conversation Haineko and Hyorinmaru were having.” Matsumoto nodded but said nothing else; instead she put a hand over Hitsugaya’s and enjoyed the fact that he looked more embarrassed than before.

“Are you ready to do this? Are you sure you even wanted it?”

Matsumoto was really impressed by the seriousness in which Hitsugaya was looking at her.

“Didn’t you hear what I said? How I feel about you? I’m not going to say that I’m ready because I’m not. We’re in the middle of a war here, your life is going to be in more danger than before…But I’ve been there with you.” After a moment of hesitation Hitsugaya lean closer to her. “I’m going to be there for the both of you…if you let me.”

“Didn’t you hear me before? I am willing to try,” she answered with a cocky smile; they were so close they could feel each other’s breath; Matsumoto was closing her eyes, ready to close the gap between them.

“Good night, Toushirou-kun, Rangiku-san.” Both of them jumped away at Orihime’s intrusion. The girl looked over at them and saw, with curiosity, their red faces. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. Um, hi, Orihime. Where were you?” asked Matsumoto, leaving her taichou and going over to the girl.

Hitsugaya mentally cursed at Orihime’s timing. He was so close to kissing her again…to feel her lips on his.

Oh, that was so…

‘Hyorinmaru?’

It’s just; you two are such a fools! Hitsugaya blinked several times when he heard sobbing coming from inside his head.

‘Are you crying?’

O-Of course not!! Dragons…dragons don’t cry!

Hitsugaya was about to say something else but the squeals from Orihime and Matsumoto startled him a little; he turned around and saw that both women were talking in hushed, rushed whispers and looking at him once in a while. Then Orihime gave Matsumoto a big hug, and, for some reason, moments later he found himself in the girl’s arms.

“Oh, congratulations you guys!! I didn’t know you were dating!” Hitsugaya’s eyes were wide-opened and when he found Matsumoto he saw the little smile in her face.

‘Yeah, neither did I…what the hell?’

“Th-thank you, Inoue,” he said, still a little confuse.

“This deserves a celebration! What do you say if we watch some movies and have something special for dinner?” asked Orihime with shinning eyes and big smile; Matsumoto agreed with her immediately.

“Oh, Taichou would you bring the movies? Oh, and some ice cream…oh and I have a serious craving for chocolate and cookies!” she said, looking at him with big puppy eyes.

“Oh, while you’re gone I will make dinner!” declared Orihime with a wooden spoon in her hand. “And since tonight is special I will make a special meal!!”

Hitsugaya grimaced at that and thought that it would be good if he brought something to eat for him. He was still a little confused about what had just happened. He looked over at Matsumoto and couldn’t help the little gleam of annoyance at being interrupted when he was about to kiss her. Matsumoto walked towards him with the list of things they wanted for that night and handed it to him with a sweet, and very manipulating, smile.

“Thank you for offering to bring all of this Taichou,” she said.

“Matsumoto, what did you say to Inoue?”

“Well, I told her that we’re officially a couple. Because we are one, aren’t we?” she asked trying to sound secure but a flick of doubt in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Hitsugaya.

“Do you really want to? I mean, that means we’re ok?”

“I’m still mad at you…but, I did say we should try, right? If not for us, at least…”

“At least for our baby.”

Those words made them tensed up immediately; they looked at each other before smiling. Hitsugaya grabbed the list and left the house with a goofy smile on his face; he welcomed the cold wind of the night and decided to run as fast as he could to the video store.

‘She…she is willing to try!! Did you heard that Hyorinmaru?’

Of course I did.

‘And we are a couple now!’

Yeah I heard that.

‘And it went well, right? I mean, I know she is still mad but it isn’t anything I can’t fix.’

I know that as well.

‘What’s with you? Shouldn’t you like jump up and down and do that sort of idiotic thing you usually do?’

Hey! That was very offensive…I’m really happy for you and I did celebrate what just happened!

‘…Hyorinmaru, why do you have a handkerchief in your tail?’

I refuse to answer that!


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Hitsugaya cursed for the umpteenth time trying to grab the three bags full of things he had with him. Why was he doing that again?

To share a bed with Rangiku-chan?

Hitsugaya blushed at the images the dragon made appear in his mind, but decided to ignore him. He turned to the right and ran into Ichigo; the bags fell to the ground along with the contents.

Ichigo looked at the young taichou and without saying anything he started to pick up the things to put them once again in the bags. Hitsugaya’s brow lifted a little, surprised at the orange-haired boy; usually he would be screaming or talking or doing something equally annoying for the young taichou, but instead Ichigo remained silent with a lost look on his face.

“Thank you,” said Hitsugaya. Ichigo merely nodded his head. “Are you ok, Kurosaki?”

Not that he really cared that much, but it was so unusual for the young shinigami to be that silent or have that serious expression that was so nearly an expression of misery.

“I’m sorry Toushirou,” said Ichigo. Once again Hitsugaya was surprised, but this time a frown formed on his face. Something wasn’t right.

“Sorry? For what?”

“The other day. I shouldn’t have hit you,” Hitsugaya’s eyes opened in realization; he tilted his head to the side and snorted.

“You didn’t need to apologize; we were kind of tensed that night.”

“Yeah. It seems like nothing went according to plan.” Ichigo looked aside before asking, “Why do you have all of that?”

“This? Well, Matsumoto and Inoue wanted to have a special night,” said Hitsugaya with a little blush that piqued Ichigo’s curiosity.

“So, you and Rangiku-san talked things over?”

“What? How do you know that?”

“I didn’t until you said that, besides Renji told us that they had to tell Rangiku-san about that night.”

“How do you know about it?” asked Hitsugaya, clearly curious and a little surprised at how much they did know.

“We saw you leave her place that night, then we went inside her apartment, and well, it didn’t take a genius to know what had happened.” Hitsugaya closed his eyes, a little annoyed.

‘Great! Just who else know about this?’

“So, you and Rangiku-san are… you know…”

“That’s no one of your business!”

“Yeah, I know. I’m a mere human, right?” Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes at the tone in Ichigo’s voice. It wasn’t completely miserable, there was a hint of something else that Hitsugaya couldn’t pin-point.

“Yeah, about that…I didn’t mean it that time,” said Hitsugaya, a little uncomfortably; apologizing had never been his forte, but this time he knew it was necessary. “You were a great help back in Soul Society and…”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to say anything, Toushirou, we were all too tense that night, right?” said Ichigo with a soft smile.

“Yeah, and it’s Hitsugaya-taichou to you!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Ichigo!” The boy turned around and a pained expression appeared on his face when he saw Rukia running towards them. This only made Hitsugaya more curious than before, but he decided that he could investigate matters later; right now Matsumoto and Inoue were waiting for him and he had the feeling that Kuchiki wanted to talk to Kurosaki alone.

“Well, I have to go. Good night Kurosaki.”

“Bye Toushirou, good luck with Rangiku-san!”

Ichigo stood there waiting for Rukia, when the girl was finally there she looked at him with a scolding expression.

“That was Hitsugaya-taichou?”

“Yeah, I ran into him just now.”

They were silent for a moment, neither of them wanting to start a conversation that was bound to be awkward just like the last conversations they try to maintain. Finally, Rukia crossed her arms and looked directly into Ichigo’s eyes.

“Why are you running away from me?”

“I’m not running away, Rukia.”

“Then, why didn’t you come to school today? Orihime was really worried about you…I was worried about you Ichigo!” Rukia said lifting her voice and making Ichigo flinch at the last part.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s the only thing you have to say?”

“What else do you want me to say, Rukia?” said Ichigo, loosing his temper.

“Something more useful that a simple ‘sorry’!” screamed Rukia.

“Well, I needed time to think things over; I didn’t want any of you to interfere with that!”

“I thought we were friends Ichigo! I thought you lean on your friends when things get a little rough!” said Rukia; she didn’t notice the tears that were forming in her eyes. “Don’t make me kick your ass again so you stop feeling sorry for yourself!”

Ichigo sighed and lowered his gaze, not wanting to see the teary girl in front of him; he put his hands on his pockets and started walking away. Rukia stood there, a little hurt by Ichigo’s actions, she was about to leave when Ichigo turned to her with his usual expression on.

“Are you coming or what?” Rukia narrowed her eyes at him, she knew things were far from being ok, but at least he was trying and that was one of the things she liked about him. She ran to him and hit him lightly on the arm.

“Of course I’m coming; you won’t get rid of me that easily.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” The replied caught Rukia by surprise, she looked up at him but Ichigo was looking ahead of him. She leant closer to him, hugging her arms at the cold night. Ichigo saw her out of the corner of his eye, then took off his jacket and put it around her, startling her for a moment. A small blush appeared on Rukia’s cheeks and she let out the smallest of smiles at the gesture. Rukia decided that maybe what Ichigo said was true and he only needed a little time alone to think things over.


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It was past midnight, Orihime had already gone to sleep but Matsumoto insisted on staying up late to see the last one of the movies. Though she was fast asleep five minutes after that, Hitsugaya looked at her sleeping face rather than the movie and he was enjoying the fact that she had fall asleep on his lap.

His hand was caressing her blond hair while his eyes tried to focus on the movie; the minutes passed and suddenly he found himself in an unknown but familiar place. He looked around and noticed the plain made of ice and desert and the combination of such elements were as contradictory as the figures he noticed there.

First was Hyorinmaru, he was resting on the ground and had his eyes closed, curled up into a ball. The second was a shadow that was near Hyorinmaru, it wasn’t as big as the dragon, but it wasn’t that small, either. Hitsugaya looked at the shadow and he felt a familiar reiatsu coming from it. The young taichou opened his eyes in realization.

‘Haineko?’

He wasn’t expecting the cat to answer him, after all, zanpakutou only talked with other zanpakutou and their respective masters but Hitsugaya was stunned when the cat’s voice reached his ears. However, he couldn’t hear her quite right; her voice sounded resonant and distant and he had to make an effort to hear her fine.

He is sound sleep…lazy dragon. What are you doing here, Toushirou-kun?

‘I…I’m not sure. Why are you talking to me?’

If you want I can go…

‘No, wait, I just mean that you’re supposed to talk only to Matsumoto or Hyorinmaru, not me.’

I see my little Icy Dragon didn’t tell you everything…let’s just say that this is another perk caused by the mating mark.

Hitsugaya nodded but said nothing else; for him it was kind of strange to talk to another zanpakutou and in a way he felt as if he was doing something really terrible. He decided it was time to leave when Haineko’s voice reached him once again.

Do you want to feel him?

‘What?’ Even if he couldn’t see the cat, somehow, he knew she was smiling at him.

Your baby, do you want to feel him?

Hitsugaya stood there, frozen, when those words reached his ears. He opened and closed his mouth several times without knowing what to say or do. But the cat didn’t wait long for an intelligent reaction from him.

You’re just like Hyourin-kun.Here let me take you with me.

It was a weird feeling, first he felt Matsumoto’s reiatsu mixed with Haineko’s. That scent that made Matsumoto Rangiku who she was. Then he could felt the wave of feelings that went thought her, he could sense the anger, the happiness, the peace. Finally, he arrived to a place where everything felt different. It was protected by Haineko’s and Hyorinmaru’s presence, then nothing.

At first he could feel his own signature there, then it was Matsumoto’s, and finally…a new one. A presence totally different from the ones he had felt so far. It was unique and so tiny that Hitsugaya felt a sudden urge to protect it.

Hitsugaya opened his eyes; the television was presenting the ending credits from the movie. He was breathing really hard and when he took a hand to his face he could feel the tears there. He sensed it, he could feel it. His baby.

‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ He asked hoping that maybe Haineko would talk to him once again. There was a long moment of silence before he heard the voice.

Sorry, but I can’t tell you that. Hyourinmaru and I agreed that it would be more fun to see the two of you find out on your own.

Hitsugaya was about to reply, to object, to say something, but the cat stopped him.

Mistress is really tired. She has had a long and tiring day…you should take good care of her.

‘I will. I swear I will take good care of her and our baby.’

Good.

And with that the cat cut the connection. Hitsugaya stayed there for a moment, trying to etch in his memory the moment Haineko had allowed him to live. A big grinned formed on his face and he let out a soft chuckle of happiness. He looked down at Matsumoto and leaned forward kissing her cheek.

“I’m going to make you happy. You’ll see.” And with that he lifted her in his arms and carried her to their room.

He put Matsumoto on the futon and was about to leave to his when he felt Matsumoto’s hand grab his. He turned around and looked at her inquisitively.

“Stay with me?” He nodded his head and lay beside her. Matsumoto cuddled up to him, putting her head on his chest.

There was a moment of silence; Hitsugaya was falling asleep when he felt Matsumoto move. He opened his eyes to find himself face to face with her. They looked at each other for a moment before slowly she descended down towards him. Their noses were touching and he could feel her warm breath on his lips.

Hitsugaya stayed still not really knowing what to do or how to react until he noticed that Matsumoto was looking at him expectantly. Moving his hand to the nape of her neck he brought her close to him and closed the gap between them. At first, he just touched her lips with his, a small feather of a kiss that brought them a whole new world of bliss.

Matsumoto couldn’t believe all the emotions that simple touch brought to her, and she was really curious what would happen if she deepened the kiss. So she did it. She kissed him long and hard; their lips were the only mechanisms making some kind of intimate contact, their minds were foggy, their hearts were beating hard and at some point their hands had intertwined in a simple but deep contact.

A groan of disappointment left Hitsugaya’s mouth when Matsumoto finished the kiss; she rested her forehead on his and smiled down at him. Both of them were breathing hard and wearing a red tinge on their cheeks.

“Why…what was that?” asked Hitsugaya, his voice was deep and husky. Matsumoto smirked at that and once again rested her head on Hitsugaya’s chest. The young taichou put an arm around her and brought her closer to him, hugging her in a possessive gesture.

“I had to know,” she said; her voice was just as Hitsugaya’s.

“Know what?”

“That you were as good a kisser as Hyourinmaru said you were.”


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So, here it was. Hope all of you enjoy it as much as I did when I write it. By the way, thanks for your help and your advices about Toushirou's and Rangiku's baby, I made a decision but you have to read to find out ^_^.

Do not forget to review and tell me what you think!!