Shinigami on Ice

Author's Note: ...I have no comments whatsoever. Oh yeah, I do! I've decided that in all 'special' oneshots, I'll move everything to the center. Yeah, that is all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its affiliated characters. They all belong to the amazing Kubo Tite.

"A what?"

"Ohh taichou, don't act like as if you don't know," the big-busted blonde who reeked of sake teased, hiccuping in between her words. "We're all having a nice wittle ice-skating party in the human world! Hic."

The child with the hair of purity and eyes of sparkling jewels stared, nearly jumping out of his seat when his fukutaichou suddenly puked on his desk. Well, he did back away with a small flinch as he saw his precious paperwork going down the drain, vomit and gastric juices smudging the kanji and dripping onto the floor. Why the hell was Matsumoto drinking anyway? If he were her (thank goodness he's not), he'd be overjoyed to have a break in the world of the living. Nothing bad happened in Soul Society, let alone having had something bad happen to her, and she'd better have a logical explanation when she finally recovered from her hangover, because he sure as hell was pissed with her (since when wasn't he pissed with her?).

"Oooooopsieee..." Matsumoto slurred before she got thrown into a fit of drunk giggles. "Sowwie taichou, I guess I got too happy and drank too much just now...hic."

That didn't serve as a plausible reason but the white-haired prodigy had no choice but to accept it. Matsumoto never talked of logic and reasons, and probably never will unless the sun rose in the wrong direction. Inwardly making an appalled glance at the gastric juices and the dripping chyme from the depths of the stomach, he looked away and made a mental note to hire a maid 24/7 in case his useless fukutaichou were to ever throw up like that ever again. Not that he wanted her to, but it was just for safety precaution.

...And...

...What was this ice-skating party she was speaking of?

"Matsumoto, from now onwards, I expect you to answer my questions truthfully. Is that clear?" he ordered, his voice low yet hinting at signs of curiosity.

"Mmmnm..." she mumbled light-heartedly, bringing the jar of sake to her lips and taking a sip. "Whadya wanna know, Hitsugaya-taichouuuu??"

He wanted so much to yell in her face not to slur the honorific but wasn't quite in the mood for that. "What did you mean by 'ice-skating party in the material world'? Is there something going on in Soul Society that I have not been informed of?"

"Ehhhhh...Well, hic," she paused, tapping her finger on her lips. "I just heard it from Renji-kun that, hic, Kuchiki-taichou has been informed by Yamamoto-soutaichou, hic, that there'll be an ice-skating party in the human world. All of the taichous and fukutaichous have, hic, have to attend, so we get a day off! Wheeeeeee...!!!"

"Oi, shut up," Hitsugaya spat, colder than he usually was.

He did not like the idea of being away from his desk and work for an entire day, and worse, the day would be spent on ice-skating and ice-skating solely. It sounded irritable enough, but it had to be in the material world? He just hoped that they wouldn't hold it in Karakura, because that would mean having had the need to face the idiotic clown with a lot of obnoxiousness...

It wasn't like he hated Kurosaki Ichigo. But he didn't like him very much either. The constant calling of his given name got on his nerves and the unwillingness to admit that he was a captain of such caliber and youth was somewhat of a telltale sign that the substitute shinigami, who held no official rank in the Gotei 13, had no respect for someone like him as well. And Hitsugaya practically screamed respect all over his stern, child-like face.

Of course, there was something else about the substitute that, dare he say it, intrigued him and peaked his interest...

"Ohh taichouuu...you're so lucky! You get to spend, hic, a whole day with Ichigo-kun!!!" Matsumoto squealed as she skipped over and giving Hitsugaya a pinch on the cheek that instantly sent him stamping on his passport and taking a flight to Twitch Land. "And guess what??? I heard that the soutaichou has, hic, done some buddy system thing that schools in the real world like to introduce, and you're partnering Ichigo-kun in the ice-skating rink!! Isn't that great?!?!"

...And Hitsugaya Toushirou intended to stay in Twitch Land.

---Shinigami on Ice---

"...Matsumoto."

"Ah, hai, taichou?"

When she had replied, Hitsugaya eyed his sober fukutaichou warily, not liking the cute-cute innocent look she had on her face. He had his vague suspicions that this whole ice-skating thing was her suggestion in the first place...and if that was so, she would be happy to spend some quality time with three months' worth of paperwork when they get back to Soul Society.

"...I've heard of job retrenchment in the human world." He glued his eyes to the melting ice floor laid out in front of him, giving it a long, hard stare. "But this..." Teal eyes scanned the entire ice-skating rink. It was probably about one sixth (or even smaller) the size of an average football field, which seemed to be quite ordinary to him, but there was something else that was making him feel very suspicious of...

"...is ridiculous."

There wasn't a single soul in sight, save for the two dozen standing by the sidelines. Hitsugaya had thought that humans were supposed to get jobs to earn their pay, very much similar to how shinigami needed to go on missions and earn their pay according to their hollow killings. If that was the case, then where the heck was the manager? Did he suddenly lose an interest in being the manager of the ice-skating rink overnight and quit his job or something? Where was the damn staff? If they weren't going to fix the ice up properly, he would have no choice but to do it himself, and if a human were to suddenly come along as he would do so, everyone would have to bother wiping out the memory of the human and that would, consequently, result in a waste of time and energy.

"Well, don't worry about it, taichou! I-it's probably nothing!" For some reason, the strawberry blonde sounded awfully nervous all of a sudden. "Ne, taichou, do you wanna try skating first? You know, all the other captains are waiting for you to go out there on the ice first," Matsumoto nudged, trying to sound as cute and curious as possible.

If it had been just the two of them in the office with Hitsugaya giving her a lecture on drinking on duty, he would've had scoffed at the tone of voice that was just all-too familiar to his ears. "Exactly why are they requesting me to start first?"

Pause.

"...Ah, because they want you to freeze the ice again, taichou."

A twitch of the eyebrow said it all.

---Hitsugaya on ice---

To his utter disappointment, Hitsugaya had gotten the smallest size of the skates available.

Tying the laces wasn't that big of a problem; he managed to figure out the knots without Ichigo having had the need to offer help. When he had gotten up, however, it became a different story altogether. His feet suddenly felt like lead as he trudged his way towards the ice, lifting one foot after another with some difficulty. Yes, it was totally embarrassing, but he hid his emotions well under his icy cover and tried as hard as he could to ignore the stifled chuckles and fangirly comments about how adorable he looked. However, only one person amongst all of them bothered to step out of the crowd and towards the white-haired child, offering help on retying the laces. At first, Hitsugaya put up a barrier of resistance, saying that the knots were tied correctly and that he was fine on his own, but you know Ichigo, persisting on the fact that Hitsugaya had gotten the knots all wrong and insisting on offering him his aid.

"See, Toushirou? You're supposed to string the laces over here, not there; that's why they feel so tight."

Teal eyes peaking with curiosity stared down at the kneeling figure untying the laces of his skates, and owner of said eyes couldn't help but suck in the air-conditioned air and look away to prevent distraction of his mind. No, it wasn't that it was embarrassing or anything, but something just seemed rather...peculiar at that moment. He couldn't describe it in any other word except for 'peculiar' and couldn't fully comprehend exactly why he was taking in so many intakes of breath when he caught sight of the orange strawberry finishing the knots of the navy blue laces. No one had noticed it, of course, otherwise Matsumoto would be glomping him by then and squealing at how adorable he must've looked when he was half-hyperventilating.

Hang on, he did not just hyperventilate...did he?

Well, uh, no. No.

...Of course not.

"Ok, you're all set to go skate now, Toushirou," Ichigo beamed, getting up from his crouching position. "Y'know, since we've been assigned as buddies and all, you want me to teach you how to skate? I know there aren't any ice-skating rinks in Soul Society, but I'm pretty sure you've heard of ice-skating rinks, right?"

"...Yes. Yes, I've heard of them. And this is the first time I've actually been inside of an ice-skating rink..." Hitsugaya admitted, eyeing the floor of ice beside him. "But if you want to teach me how to skate, I think I'll just have to turn down that offer, Kurosaki. I can skate perfectly fine on my own."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Uh...you sure about that? I mean, you've never skated before, so..."

"It doesn't matter if I have experience or not," Hitsugaya cut in coldly, quickly recovering from whatever nervous pang he received earlier. "I'll be fine on my own, so don't worry, Kurosaki," he continued before turning and slightly trudging over towards the ice, leaving a shrugging Ichigo standing by the sidelines. The rest of the captains and lieutenants stared at each other before moving up to witness the one and only prodigy self-learn how to skate, bringing their skates along with them as they did so. Some captains couldn't be bothered but went with the flow anyway so as to not look left out and anti-social - coughByakuyacough - while the other captains were really curious as to what would happen next, staring intently at the prodigy with a unique sense of fashion (for some odd reason, he was wearing a black singlet with a thin dark grey sweater that had a splash of ice blue paint all over the back, and along with the top came the tight jeans that made his legs look skinnier than they actually were).

With a relaxed sigh - and not those normal everyday Fear-me-I-am-Mr-Grumpypants or Do-the-hellshit-paperwork kind of sighs - Hitsugaya placed his foot on the edge of the ice, slowly letting his grip on the support go, and steadily placed the other foot forward. Soon enough, he was walking across the ice and back in circles, making skating look like nothing in the others' eyes, and not to mention he was moving at a pretty rapid speed. It hadn't even been five minutes and he had already finished about six laps. Throughout it all, he didn't attempt any ice-skating stunts that humans witness on something they call a television set that can change colours and faces of people by pressing buttons on a device called a remote. Hmm. Perhaps Kurotsuchi would be honored to conduct research on earth's advanced technology.

He hasn't fallen, and he probably never will.

And in one Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes, that was pretty much the beauty of the white-haired prodigy.

Behind his back, however, a few of the more enthusiastic captains and lieutenants began high-fiveing each other for some reason.

---Yamamoto on ice---

There wasn't a reason as to why the ice-skating rink was void of anyone else other than them; it was a working day - according to the king of obnoxiousness - and, technically speaking, since it was a working day, there should be staff around here to work, even if there wouldn't be any customers for the entire day. It was as if the staff and customers had deliberately been sent away so that the two dozen shinigami wouldn't have to be bothered by the presence of humans and should any hollow appear, they could easily get to it without having the need to worry about people seeing the gigai jolt with the interchanging of souls.

...Unless, of course, Yamamoto bribed them into staying away from the ice-skating rink that he had personally reserved...

Stare.

...Nah.

Why would the soutaichou want to get himself involved in something as unimportant as a relaxation at an ice-skating rink anyway, let alone bribing people as a way to get them away? Wouldn't that seem a little too obsessive with making the day perfect? Even though Yamamoto was a man of perfection, principle and wrinkles, he wouldn't go to such drastic lengths to make every single thing perfect in his eyes, unless it was absolutely necessary. The most he'd do would be killing people to bring about peace and that seemed to have been happening quite often ever since the matter concerning the execution of Kuchiki Rukia months ago...

"Hitsugaya-taichou."

Ah, speak of the devil.

"Hai, Yamamoto-soutaichou?"

As Hitsugaya spun around with a graceful swirl to meet the old geezer in the eye (well, he tried to), he had noticed that the long-bearded other had been skating at a really slow pace comparable to that of the turtle from a story he heard decades ago. But he had to admit; even for an old guy, he had quite a good sense of fashion. A baggy jacket dyed charcoal black slung over his shoulders like how he did so with his haori, and underneath that jacket was a shirt produced with the thread of fire as well as a pair of jeans that made him look pretty sloppy. The contrasting colors of the torso clothes reminded the white-haired taichou of the fire power of Ryuujin Jakka, which he...really...didn't want to remember...

...The fact that he had spent two whole weeks in the 4th Division trying to fight heatstroke was bad enough a memory.

When the old soutaichou finally caught up with the young prodigy, he took a few seconds to take a good breath before he spoke, "Hitsugaya-taichou, as soutaichou of the Gotei 13, I would like to ask of you to do something..."

Hitsugaya raised a silvery white eyebrow, wondering what it could be. Well, whatever it was, it sounded pretty serious. It had to be serious; hell, Yamamoto was discussing business with him during a vacation. How could it not be serious?

"What is it, Yamamoto-soutaichou?"

"I would like to ask you..."

Slight pause.

A bouquet of charred roses appeared out of nowhere.

"...if you would accept this wholeheartedly."

What the hell.

"Is this a joke, soutaichou?" Hitsugaya asked, trying not to sound as demanding as he usually was with Matsumoto. The soutaichou was one who was full of pride, dignity, honor and etc; he was not one who was in any way desiring for things other than that. Romance was out of the question; dates were definitely not on the old geezer's Things-to-Honor list. The charred roses seemed like a joke to Hitsugaya, and judging Yamamoto's somewhat frustrated expression, he was obviously forced into doing this.

"Of course it isn't, Hitsugaya-taichou," Yamamoto replied, sounding energetic all of a sudden. Ok, so maybe he wasn't playing around... "Think of this as a present from me on behalf of the Gotei 13 for your astounding bravery on the battlefield against the Espada and the three traitors of Soul Society, but of course, that would mean that you would have to accept this card as well..."

With a smack on the old geezer's bald head, Hitsugaya skated away quickly, leaving the rejected old man behind.

Yamamoto rubbed his head, trying not to show the signs of sheepishness and embarrassment.

"...Maybe I shouldn't have held his hand..."

---Ichigo on fire---

The orange-haired substitute shinigami bit his lower lip to prevent it from trembling not from the cold (hell, he was well-equipped with a woollen jacket and a pair of mufflers, thank you very much) but from the anger that was hissing at his soul within his body. Instantly switching on Fast and Furious mode, he tied the laces of his skates in a matter of seconds and had literally zoomed in on the old geezer who was still rubbing his sore head in another matter of seconds. It made Renji suspect whether Ichigo had been at the sidelines in the first place or not as the strawberry was moving at a dangerously high speed comparable to shunpo.

Folding his arms and glaring at the old soutaichou disrespectfully, Ichigo tried as hard as he could to put a stop to his hisses which he had unintentionally been hurling at Yamamoto. The elderly took a moment before he felt the pain fade away and looked at Ichigo in the eye. "Kurosaki Ichigo. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Oh, hell yeah, there is," Ichigo spat angrily. He couldn't contain his fury any longer. "Why the hell did you hold Toushirou's hand?"

"It shall be kept a secret for now, Kurosaki Ichigo," Yamamoto answered emotionlessly, but his actions were very much the contrary; his fingers were tapping each other as if in amusement and he was trying hard not to smile.

"Don't gimme that shit!" Ichigo yelled out in pure agony, knitting his brows and smashing his clenched fists at the wall support beside him with strength that almost caused a dent. "You...you...you held Toushirou's hand."

"Yes...And...?" Yamamoto admitted, playing along with the game of love that many youngsters seemed to love nowadays.

Eyes scanning the area around him, especially making sure that the white-haired captain was out of earshot, Ichigo moved closer towards the old geezer with a blush and a sheepish rub against the back of his head. "So, ah, um...h-how did it feel?"

Yamamoto smiled, obviously enjoying the game of love and jealousy.

---Soifon on ice---

'...I shouldn't have hit him like that...' Hitsugaya thought to himself, occasionaly turning to his left to check if the bald ol' man was showing signs of anger or fury, and rather fortunately the old man didn't seem the least bit angry. But still, Hitsugaya couldn't just let it go like that. 'I had just given the soutaichou a smack. On the head. But he was being...not himself anyway.'

With a light shrug of the shoulders, he carried on skating, making beautiful and graceful turns and forming skate marks on the ice. Even after twenty minutes, the ice had yet to show signs of melting. Maybe that was because even in his gigai, with eighty percent of his power sealed off, the remaining twenty percent was still cold enough to refreeze the ice like that...

Figuring that he should just loosen up and stop thinking about things for a little while, he closed his eyes and allowed the iciness from the surrounding air to sink deeper into his gigai and reach his soul, pleasing not only him but the ice dragon within as well. Well, unfortunately, a moment of enjoyment doesn't last forever.

And for Hitsugaya Toushirou, it had only lasted three seconds.

"You know, for someone like you, you should be more alert to your surroundings, especially the floor," Soifon spat solemnly as always, sticking her foot back in to its original position.

The white-haired captain frowned, straining to push himself back up on his own two feet again, but wound up slipping and stepping on his own foot, falling back down. He had almost gotten back on his feet on his second try, but a strong tug at his arm nearly pushed him towards the centre of the ice-skating rink, slidding across the ice on his back. With a vein popping from his head, he stood up and almost gave the captain of the 2nd Division his infamous glare. Soifon just seemed pretty laid back, retying her braids and straightening out her outfit which, Hitsugaya realised, was really unsuitable for ice-skating.

After all, who in the right frame of mind would wear a hairband with black cat ears, a long gown with black laces and black socks with a picture of a cat smiling on each of them, and go skating?

"What's with that look on your face?" she scolded, folding her arms and skating towards the annoyed genius. "All I did was make you trip. And I helped you get up. Is that how you express your thanks, you ungrateful little kid?"

Stick foot out.

Trip.

Scowl.

Skate away.

Well, at least Hitsugaya got his payback.

---Ichigo on fire---

As the black-haired ninja tried to get up from her uncomfortable and very -ahem- explicit position, she suddenly felt a load placed on her back, pressing her back down. The orange-haired strawberry had his arms folded across his chest and a scowl that had been carved onto his facial features. He gave the figure of the bitch ninja a glare, followed by another, and then another. The glaring process continued, and there was no opposite party to compete with him in this enjoyable game of glares.

Soifon wanted to sign the form of participation but obviously the judges had been stupid enough to place her in the tournament round in which she had to compete with a floor of ice. If it had been the otherwise, she would be exchanging glares with one very pissed off strawberry right now.

The wall of silence broke when Ichigo decided that it was time to leave the ninja alone. He removed his foot, which was apparently deprived of its ice skate, and skated away. Soifon got up, rubbing her sore back and wondering to herself why the hell she had been assaulted so easily without her noticing.

"That was for tripping Toushirou, by the way, you bitch!"

With eyes narrowed to thin slits, Soifon muttered a string of vulgarities meant for Ichigo under her breath and skated away.

---Unohana on ice---

"Hitsugaya-taichou."

The bearer of hair dyed with a color beyond the boundaries of purity suppressed an annoyed sigh and turned around, nearly thanking himself out loud about not sighing in front of the kind motherly taichou of the 4th Division coming in his direction who had happily dressed herself with a green shirt that had the hospital signs all over as the repeated pattern, and a pair of navy blue jeans that brought out the color of her shirt. Halting himself to a gradual stop, he glanced up at the smiling face and blinked. "Unohana-taichou? What's the matter?"

In his mind, he was hoping that she would be normal, for once, and not surprise him with things like the previous two captains had.

With the smile still plastered on her face, Unohana stretched her arm out and handed him something he had both expected and didn't expect: a small delicate rose that came along with a pink box containing the sweet temptations known as chocolates. He glanced back and forth, from the gift to the smiling face, before looking at the presents again. For some odd reason, the captains weren't being themselves, were they?

"Please accept this, Hitsugaya-taichou," Unohana spoke with a tender tone. "It is to congratulate you on making such a speedy recovery, and to thank you for helping my members out when they needed the help, even though you claimed that your healing kidou spells needed more practise."

Sure, it seemed that way, but...

Somehow, he had a bad feeling about all this...

"No, no, I couldn't possibly..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Unohana cut in with a voice so piercing yet delicate that scared the wits out of him, "You earned it, Hitsugaya-taichou. The entire 4th Division would really like to thank you for your help, please accept it, or else they will be very dissapointed."

Stare.

"...I suppose so," he muttered, receiving the presents with both of his hands before skating away to place them on the bench at the sidelines, and went back on the ice, trying as hard as he could to avert Unohana's watching eye upon him.

Obviously, no one dared to offend the captain of the 4th Division.

---Ichigo on fire---

With Unohana being the exception, Ichigo swore to kill all of the taichous who dared woo his precious Tou-Tourou.

---Byakuya on ice---

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Um, Kuchiki-taichou..."

"...Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

"...Is there...anything else you would like to tell me?"

"No."

"You said that you had something to say to me when you gave this to me..."

"...I forget."

A drop of sweat ran down Hitsugaya's head in the usual anime style as he glued his curious teal eyes to the stoic statue standing before him. Even while in a gigai, the head of the Kuchiki household still acted as a high nobleman, clad in a stylish Western suit that made him look smart, and the pair of gloves still worn to bring out the dignified part of his personality and style. Hitsugaya didn't want to ask the raven-haired other where he managed to have the number six printed on the back of his shirt, and he certainly did not want to tell the Kuchiki straight in the face that having the kanji of his own name surrounding the number six made him look like as if he was getting ready for a basketball competition, not ice-skating.

"If there isn't anything else, I will be going now," Byakuya spoke before he went off with a skate so dignified that he appeared as though he was walking normally.

The icy taichou stared at the leaving figure of the noble before gluing his eyes to the horribly drawn bunny known by all as Chappy, with large hesitant crayon marks in pink that appeared to be badly drawn sakura petals dancing about the rabbit.

Hitsugaya Toushirou had been moved speechless.

---Ichigo on fire---

"Oi, Kuchiki Byakuya!!!" Ichigo yelled from across the ice, skating towards the basketball player, I mean, 6th Division captain with blinding speed. Screeching to a halt and scratching the surface of the ice with the skates, he shot the stoic captain a death glare. "What the hell were you gonna say to Toushirou? And what the hell did you give him anyway?"

Eyeing the former ryoka, Byakuya muttered, "I had no intention to tell him of anything whatsoever, and you, Kurosaki Ichigo, are in no need to learn of what Hitsugaya-taichou has received from me."

"...Fine," Ichigo growled, taking deep breaths to calm himself down (seriously, if he weren't born with the essential male reproductive organ, people would think he was having PMS). "Just as long as you didn't give him one of Rukia's crappy drawings, it'll be fine."

"..."

Giving the silent taichou a wary glance, the thought of striking the nail right on the head suddenly began eating at his brain.

"...Don't tell me you seriously gave him the drawing of the stupid bunny in pink stripes."

"...It wasn't done by Rukia," Byakuya continued softly, hoping that the conversation would just end there so that he could go away and mind his own business.

Unfortunately, those terms did not exist in Kurosaki Ichigo's dictionary.

"But...Rukia showed it to me one day and told me that the bunny was supposed to be y-" Realisation dawned upon him as his lips curled to a smug smirk, giving Byakuya 'the eye'. "Ohhh, so that was drawn by you, wasn't it?"

"..."

"So tell me, Byakuya, why did you give that picture to Toushirou?"

"..."

"If it's to tell him something that I hope you're not telling him, then I'll go bankai on your sorry, prissy, beat up ass."

"...I have no idea what you are saying, but I know that you are being undignified and crude. Put a stop to it immediately or else I will take matters into my own hands."

Ichigo nearly went berserk at the comment.

---Komamura on ice---

A silvery white eyebrow was raised, but nothing more had been spoken of between the two.

Other than the fact that Komamura practically offered to remove his mask, Hitsugaya found the captain of the 7th Division pretty much normal compared to the others before him. He didn't even engage a staring contest with the fox spirit like what he had done with Byakuya, since the death cold silence unnerved even him, and he actually felt pretty refreshed having had no need to deal with another abnormality that seemed to be a weird contagious disease only the captains (other than him) had been contracted with.

Hitsugaya stared.

No visible symptoms.

...Why was Komamura half-naked?!

The icy captain looked away.

"...I have heard from Kuchiki-taichou."

A bat of his eyelids, and that was all before the white-haired captain went back into his scowling state.

"Apparently, you were hailed the winner of the staring contest you have engaged with him," Komamura continued, sounding slightly amused. It only made Hitsugaya blink once more before the fox stopped beating about the bush. "I would be honored to spar with you in this staring game. Are you prepared to take up the challenge?"

Indirectly speaking, the 7th Division captain wanted to dethrone Hitsugaya and be hailed as the winner of the staring contest.

Bluntly speaking, he was just being a pervert.

"No thank you, Komamura-taichou," Hitsugaya replied icily. "Now, please excuse me. I have some other matters to attend to."

As the fox spirit watched the shifty captain of the 10th Division skate away solemnly, he began wondering to himself about what other possible matters a captain could attend to when in a material world, but later paid no mind to it. Just as he was about to skate in the opposite direction, he found himself rooted to the ground. Literally. No matter what he did, he couldn't get his large, clawed feet to move so that he could carry on with his rounds of skating on the floor of ice. With a grumble, he gave up and decided to have a look to find out exactly what was the cause of his sticking to the ground.

Placing the helmet over his head to hide his apparent growl, he folded his arms and stood there like an idiot, with the ice encasing his feet and attaching him to the floor.

The child ought to be taught a lesson.

---Ichigo on fire---

The fox ought to be taught a lesson, Ichigo figured.

But Toushirou had already taught him the lesson he needed.

Komamura Sajin was wondering why a strawberry on skates was laughing maniacally as he skated passed by him.

---Kyouraku on ice---

"Ahhh, Toushirou, the purity of your hair attracts me like how a magnet attracts another; the beauty of your eyes makes my heart go wild; your skin, baby soft and delicate, makes me want to embrace you in a hug..."

Teal eyes narrowed to slits as the white-haired captain gave the flamboyantly dressed captain of the 8th Division a long, hard stare.

"...Kyouraku-taichou, are you done? I would like to finish my skating before I take a break..."

Not giving the other a chance to continue with his rejection, the lax taichou continued, "Oh, your lips, so tender and dainty, pull me closer to you as I land my own on yours; your breath may be cold and icy, but it melts my heart; your fingers, slender and smooth, are perfect to thy touch..."

Hearing those words of a love confession coming from Kyouraku, Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel like giving him a tight smack on the face.

"The adorability of your toes screams for me to play with; the thought of seeing you stepping out of a shower tickles my mind; the nice feeling of cupping your ass refuses to leave my sense of touch, like the taste of thy ice that I have kissed..."

A vein popped out uncontrollably. The poem seemed to be getting more and more out of hand, and especially more perverted. If he wasn't going to put a stop to Kyouraku's poem of (freaky) romance, who else would?

"Kyouraku-taichou, I hate to interrupt, but-"

"Alas, we are worlds apart, you and I; you, who have been made perfect, and I, who have been made imperfect; I think of you in the day, and I dream of you at night; I sing of the song of ice and snow during summer, and the song of my beloved dragon as winter solstice approaches..."

"Um, Kyouraku-taichou..."

"Oh, Toushirou, Toushirou! Wherefore art thou Toushirou? The taste of thee lips still remain, but you are not here and by my side; despair, I shall not, for I shall wait till I can land thy lips unto thee, and when that time comes, bliss will finally arrive..."

Hitsugaya Toushirou finally snapped when he felt someone tap his ass.

Ten minutes later, when the sickly Ukitake came to check on them - seeing that everyone else was busy with their own personal issues and wasn't paying much attention to the 8th and 10th Division captains - his fellow Shiro-chan skated passed by him, eyes closed and arms folded in a dignified and calm manner and lips opening and closing with words that had been spoken incoherently.

To Ukitake's utmost horror and amusement, he found Kyouraku moaning in pain and holding his problem area.

"Hitsugaya-taichou..." the tubercolosis patient cooed, smirking but warning him at the same time.

Hitsugaya turned, calm demeanor still actively present.

"I said it wasn't my fault."

Yeah, right.

---Ichigo on fire---

Apparently, Ichigo had let Kyouraku slip past by him earlier and was eventually confused when he saw the sickly 13th Division captain trying to help his friend up as he was passing by. He skated over to help as Ukitake randomly went into his coughing fits - the cold temperature was certainly not good for his health - before asking the pained Kyouraku of what had happened to him and his problem area. He couldn't hear Kyouraku's pained muttering but he caught Hitsugaya's name being mentioned and nudged the flamboyantly dressed captain of the 8th Division even further, pestering him even.

"Ah..ah...I, uh, recited a love poem for dear Toushirou-kun..." Kyouraku admitted, hissing in between pauses of his sentence.

Ichigo had the urge to do what Hitsugaya had done to the pervert, but hey, Kyouraku had suffered enough. He wouldn't want the man to become impotent, after all.

"Really?" the curious strawberry asked, an eyebrow twitching with annoyance. "What kind of love poem?"

When the 8th Division captain recited the poem once more, Ichigo instantly dropped him to the floor where his face met with the ice, a vein popping out from his head. Chocolate brown pupils dilated, revealing more of the whites, and a deep red flush appeared on the surface of his facial skin. Ukitake was, at first, concerned about the welfare of his childhood friend, but when he noticed how much of a strawberry the strawberry was turning into, his worries soon switched between the two parties. "Ichigo-kun, what is the matter? Are you ill?" the white-haired captain of the 13th Division asked, seeing how red Ichigo was turning with every passing moment.

The literal strawberry shook out of his blushing daze and grabbed Kyouraku by the collar, shaking him with such violence and intensity continuously before handing Ukitake the limp, subconscious gigai belonging to the wounded captain of the 8th Division. He skated off, the blush not leaving his face.

"...Stupid perverted jackass who has no respect for other people's privacy..."

---Zaraki on ice---

"Hey, hey brat! Sheesh, wait a little, why doncha'?!"

At the mentioning of the term 'brat', Hitsugaya instantly jerked to a stop. Zaraki Kenpachi couldn't skate away to avoid a collision and instantly bumped into Hitsugaya, knocking the poor juuban tai taichou over on his face which met with the ice floor, giving the element he mastered a big sloppy unintentional kiss. With Zaraki laughing like a madman and resting his butt on Hitsugaya's back, there was no other alternative for the white-haired prodigy to get up from the ice or to take in a breath because, obviously, with a face pressed against the ice, there was no way he could breathe, was there? Kicking his legs and straining to push himself up, he tried to scream out 'Zaraki-taichou' but all that came out from his jaw was a muffled 'Samami-taifou' (A/N: I tried it, and it really sounded like that).

"Aw, c'mon kiddo, enjoy the refreshing shortage of breath to your lungs. It makes you feel so accomplished; the same feeling you get when you slit someone's throat!" Zaraki exclaimed excitedly before giving a gruff and sadistic chuckle.

"Ken-chan's right, Chibi-chan!" The pink-head appeared from behind Zaraki's back, clinging onto his shoulder as always. "Anyway, ne, Ken-chan and I wanna challenge Chibi-chan to an ice-skating competition! If we win, we get to have all that candy Sick-chan gave you, and if you win, I'll give you all the candy and bun-buns I got from Byakushi-chan! How does that sound, Chibi-chan?!"

No answer came from the seemingly irked captain of the 10th Division for a brief moment, after which there had been an incoherent mumbling of a deep yet youthful voice. The serpentine mist coiled itself around the big burly figure and the pink-head before it spread out evenly throughout the ice-skating rink, engulfing everyone else. With a clenched fist, Hitsugaya craned his neck to his right as if hoping to see someone there who would help him get out of this mess.

To everyone's surprise, including Byakuya, a grand majestic dragon of ice sprouting a large icy wingspan appeared from the midst of the mist as it cleared away, bringing the spirit of Hyourinmaru clearer into focus. Not having had seen the true form of Hyourinmaru before - since Hitsugaya rarely asked for his zanpakutou to materialise in front of anyone, including Matsumoto, for that matter - most of the captains nearly buckled and gave way when the unbearable icy reiatsu hung thick in the atmosphere began to suffocate them just as badly as how Ryuujin Jakka's shikai would, or maybe even worse since not even Ukitake could stand the coldness.

And Ichigo?

Well, let's just say he was busy trying to clean up Hichigo's drool and doing stupid things to make Zangetsu frown, because a smiling Zangetsu was a creepy Zangetsu, and Ichigo does not do creepy.

"...I think...Toushirou has had enough of the humiliation..." Hyourinmaru rumbled, edging closer towards Hitsugaya. "...Isn't that right, kozou?"

"Hyourinmaru..." Hitsugaya mumbled, half-surprised.

"From now onwards, anyone who dares chase after my kozou will answer to me..." the dragon continued to speak in a hushed whisper as its voice rang throughout the ice-skating rink. "I think I shall begin with you..."

"..Eh?"

Without any further warning, Hyourinmaru bit Zaraki's head.

---Ichigo on fire---

When he had seen how much fun Zaraki and Yachiru were having with his Tou-Tourou, he wanted to join in the fun.

But when he discovered that it wasn't the fun-fun, but the making fun-fun, he wanted to join in the fun of whipping their sorry asses.

So, of course, Hyourinmaru's materialisation came as a huge surprise to him. The fact that Hyourinmaru practically wanted Zaraki for dinner came as an even bigger surprise to him. He was having trouble concentrating, however; his inner world was raining with Hichigo's drool, which wasn't very pleasant at all, and Zangetsu wasn't in his emo corner as he usually is. Instead, he was standing in the middle of the drool, smiling. Ichigo nearly went insane when he saw the warm smile forming on his zanpakutou's spirit's lips.

No one knew exactly how Hitsugaya was able to externalise his zanpakutou's soul in a gigai, moreover he was under a limit that was placed upon his powers to seal them. Even if it had been the old soutaichou in question, it would be challenging for the old geezer to bring out Ryuujin Jakka's spirit; heck, even Toushirou seemed surprised when he saw Hyourinmaru.

As Ichigo skated over towards the ice sculpture of Zaraki being displayed in the middle of the ice-skating rink, he gave it a loud knock, and heard a mumble...or maybe even a whimper.

Snicker.

When he gave it another knock, he saw one chunk of ice fall off the sculpture and picked it up to examine it closely. With disgust, he threw the frozen ear away and instantly disappeared from the scene of the crime, leaving a frozen Zaraki and his pinky partner to be displayed like a pair of frozen idiots.

---Mayuri on ice---

When the freaky scientist of all things freaky came along in his new mask, Hitsugaya wanted to skate as fast as he could to get away from the 12th Division captain. He knew very well that the ugly scientist used many things for his experiments, all alive and dead alike. He even used himself as a subject; what's not to be scared of about him? If Kurotsuchi was skating in his direction, that was bad news. The two had never had much interaction; it was Hitsugaya who never actually bothered to start up a conversation. The only time they actually talked to each other was the day Hitsugaya was promoted to captain.

Obviously, Mayuri had expressed his desire to dissect the young captain should he ever die in battle.

Hitsugaya had stayed far away from the 12th Division captain ever since.

"Ah, why it's you, little child!" The white-haired captain twitched, stopping in his tracks and turning around, giving the other a glare. Apparently, Mayuri was immune to glares. "I saw how you managed to externalise your zanpakutou's soul. Very interesting; very interesting indeed," the masked captain spoke, rubbing his hands with excitement and evil. "Perhaps you would allow me to take a sample of your reiatsu and I shall bring it back to my lab to study...?"

Disgust was expressed all over the young taichou's face. "No."

Mayuri was on the verge of pouting. "But...but why? This could be a breakthrough in the study of the complex konpaku of a shinigami!!! You are the first shinigami I have ever studied - I mean, observed all these years and expertise as the head of the Bureau of Science and Technology who could materialise his zanpakutou in a gigai and with the power limit!! That is certainly worth my time and effort studying about! All I need is your consent and-"

"No."

"It's just a little sample..." Mayuri begged, voice nearly cracking. He sounded really desperate for something to research on...

"There's no telling what you could do with that 'little sample', Kurotsuchi-taichou," Hitsugaya retorted bluntly, remembering what happened to one of Mayuri's experiments not too long ago. He had taken a small sample of the subject's reiatsu and created a monster out of it when he added the chemicals to it. If Kurotsuchi were to take a sample of his reiatsu and play around with it...he'd most probably deep-freeze the whole of Soul Society.

"No, no, I'm not operating on you or anything. I just want to take a sample of your reiatsu without opening you up, that's all. I'll only be researching and experimenting on it..."

As Hitsugaya tried to ignore Mayuri's comments, he skated away, leaving Mayuri to follow him and continue his pestering and whining before finally stopping when Hyourinmaru descended from the ceiling, wrapping its tail around the freaky captain of freakiness, suffocating the other till he passed out from the stinging cold. The white-haired taichou gave the dragon a small but noticeable smile, thanking the other mentally. Hyourinmaru smiled back.

---Ichigo on fire---

As Hyourinmaru left the limp, cold body of Kurotsuchi Mayuri lying on the floor of ice, Ichigo skated towards it and gave it a good kick, causing the subconscious to cough out a bit of blood before going into a twitching fit, making twisted and pained expressions as he did so. Ichigo could see the blueness dyeing the masked gigai's body, and could only guess that the iciness had come from the internal.

Kurotsuchi had begun choking on his own breath, muttering words of disbelief that one could be frozen internally without feeling that cold externally. It took him fifteen minutes to cough that out and another fifteen minutes for Ichigo to make out what the hell he was saying. To satisfy his curiosity, the orange-haired shinigami substitute bent down and touched the twitching body, confirming the masked captain's diagnosis and case study of the 'technique' a materialised Hyourinmaru displayed.

Ichigo instantly backed away when more blood was coughed out, staining the ice. A green goo seeped out from one of the corners of Mayuri's lips which began trickling down his jaw and forming a small pool of the fluid near his cheek. It was disgusting, yes; very disgusting, and it was probably one of the most disturbing things the sixteen-year-old had ever witnessed in reality.

As much as it would make him a sadist, the orange strawberry loved seeing Mayuri suffering in such agony.

---Ukitake on ice---

"Ah, Hitsugaya-taichou," Ukitake acknowledged, smiling warmly as he does everyday.

Hitsugaya tilted to his right, looking at the long white-haired captain of the 13th Division standing right in front of him. He could notice the beads of sweat forming on the other's forehead. To the 10th Division captain, it was proof enough to show how much energy Ukitake had used to catch up to him; maybe it would be better if he could slow down every now and then... And when he felt a slight rumble coming from his lifelong partner, it was probably what Hyourinmaru thought so as well. Taking a moment, Hitsugaya looked at Hyourinmaru once more, trying hard not to smile as he rubbed the dragon's jaw.

"Hn," Hitsugaya mumbled, getting Ukitake's attention away from his actions. "What is it, Ukitake-taichou?"

With a wider grin, Ukitake stepped closer towards the dragon and its master, digging his hand into his pocket. "I've got something for you. I was hoping you could accept it..."

"If it is candy, Ukitake, please give it to Kusajishi-fukutaichou," Hitsugaya interrupted, still not looking at the other in the eye.

"Don't worry, Hitsugaya-taichou, I have already given your share of the candy to her," Ukitake replied warmly. "I just wanted to give you...this."

It took a while, but the icy captain turned away to look at whatever the other was holding in his hands. To his surprise, it was the bright red strawberry wrapped with plastic of some sort (in human terms, it was probably something called 'cling wrap'...) and some smudged kanji was written with the ink of a blue marker pen. Darting his sharp, piercing emeralds to and fro, from the wrapped strawberry to the kind captain of the 13th Division, Hitsugaya gave out a soft but audible sigh, reaching out to accept the (weird) gift. Without him realising it, his fingers had curled themselves to a ball and rubbed the plastic gently as if caressing the wrapped up strawberry in his fist. He glanced at Ukitake before staring at his serpentine partner. "...Thank you, Ukitake."

"Anything for my fellow Shiro-chan," Ukitake brightened, flashing Hitsugaya a wide grin.

"...Please don't call me that."

---Ichigo on fire---

"Ukitake-san!" Ichigo called out, moving at a faster pace. "Ukitake-san!" The sickly taichou turned, pressing a fist against his chest and using his free hand to cover his mouth when he felt a coughing fit come along. The metallic taste of blood practically overwhelmed his tastebuds as he tried to keep it back down so as to not frighten the orange-haired strawberry skating in his direction. Suddenly he felt something warm on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes. "Ukitake-san, are you alright?"

Oh, finally, the blood was willing to back down...

"Yes...yes, I -cough- I'm fine..."

"Ok, that's good," Ichigo replied with a small relieved smile. "By the way, what did you give Toushirou just now? He seemed kinda...I dunno, happy."

"Happy?" Ukitake asked without thinking.

"Well, yeah. I dunno; he looked kinda happy to me."

'So, that must mean that sensei was right all along...' Ukitake mused to himself, trying not to grin at the thought. "I gave him a little treat to enjoy. It's nothing much, really."

"...Ok, but what exactly did you give him anyway, Ukitake-san?"

Pause.

"A...a packet of instant coffee! Yeah, a packet of instant coffee...I bought it on my way here," the white-haired taichou lied, grinning to make things 'real'.

For some reason, Ichigo winced. "...Instant coffee?"

"Yes," Ukitake answered, blinking twice in rapid motion. "Is...something wrong?"

Draw an 'o' followed by a dot and another 'o'.

Yes, that's right; Kurosaki Ichigo isn't a strawberry; he's a destructive bunny emoticon.

"T-Toushirou is highly reactive to stimulative drugs!!! Toushirou, wait!!!" Ichigo yelled out, skating towards the other white-haired taichou at full speed, not caring about crashing into some of the fukutaichous along the way.

Ukitake could only sit there like a little duckie and blink.

---Ichigo and Hitsugaya on ice---

"Toushirou, wait!!!"

Said wielder of the most powerful ice-snow zanpakutou turned, making a mental note to have his neck treated when he gets back to Soul Society. He raised a silvery white eyebrow at the orange strawberry heading his way, and especially since everyone else on the ice was retreating back to the sidelines. "Kurosaki? What do you want?" he asked, highly annoyed by all the people bothering him in the last three hours.

Panting and sweating profusely, Ichigo leaned against the railing for support, taking a few moments to catch his breath. Behind him, Hitsugaya waited patiently and impatiently, arms folded across his chest and frown carved deep on his features. Finally the orange strawberry turned to face his favorite little taichou and his mouth began running without him realising it, "Ukitakesangaveyouapacketofinsantcoffeeright?OkgimmethepacketIknowyou'rekindaallergictostimulativedrugsandyouprobablydon'tknowbutcaffeineisastimulativedrugand-"

"Urusei!" Hitsugaya yelled, cutting in Ichigo's marvellous speech that would earn him a medal in the Fastest Speech Competition if there were such a thing in the first place. With a sigh, he continued as calmly as he could, "Speak slowly, Kurosaki, otherwise I won't be able to understand what's going on in your brain at this rate."

Ichigo sucked in a sharp intake of air. "Ok...Ukitake-san told me that he gave you a packet of instant coffee and-"

"Wait. Instant coffee?" The white-haired taichou raised an eyebrow, taking a pause before continuing, "All he gave me was a strawberry wrapped in plastic."

"...Eh?"

Pause.

"...You really are an idiot, Kurosaki..."

"Wait, what did I do?"

Ignoring the somewhat protesting tone of voice, Hitsugaya decided to give Ichigo an explanation so simple that even the orange strawberry would understand. "Ukitake merely gave me this strawberry," he paused and showed Ichigo the ichigo. "...as a present or gift of some sort. If he told you that he gave me instant coffee, then it's most likely that he was lying to you to make you worried about my well-being, which I think you should not worry about, Kurosaki."

"B-but...if it was really instant coffee, then you'll...you'll start doing things that you won't normally do, right?" the orange-haired vaizard asked bluntly, obviously not aware of the tinge of cherry red surfacing on the other's face.

"Kurosaki, I told you before; say one thing about what happened last time, and I will kill you," Hitsugaya spat icily, clenching his fists to control his anger. "I am completely aware of the side-effects of consuming the so-called stimulative drugs, as you humans put it, and I will not have a next time."

"I know, I know, it was probably the most embarrassing thing you did; I mean, I really liked the way you suddenly kissed me and-"

"KUROSAKI...!!!!"

"A-ah! M-my bad, Toushirou...I really didn't mean to say it..." Ichigo apologised, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Taking deep breaths to calm himself, as well as a growling Hyourinmaru, down, Hitsugaya turned away. "Whatever, Kurosaki," he replied coolly. The orange-haired other grinned when he heard the half-apologetic and half-forgiving tone of the white-haired captain and edged closer. Hitsugaya felt the other's hot breath tickling his neck and his brows began to twitch as he tried to resist scratching it. "Now what do you want, Kurosaki?"

"Nothing much," Ichigo answered, shrugging. "Except...you look like you really like the strawberry Ukitake-san gave you."

Teal eyes widened slightly, but it went unnoticed. Hyourinmaru rumbled a little, but no more sound came thereafter. "...Don't be ridiculous, Kurosaki. I was trying not to be rude and accepted the gift-"

"-with a smile?"

It was then Hitsugaya twirled around on the ice, facing Ichigo's direction. He was frowning, yes, but the action of his hands traveling up to his stomach was very much noticeable. "I...I wasn't smiling, you blockhead. ...Mattaku...you're not only an idiot; you're a blind idiot, at that..." he muttered, doing a very good job at covering up.

If it had been anyone else, they'd be fooled by the icy act.

Obviously, Kurosaki Ichigo was not 'anyone else'.

"That's what you say, Toushirou, but that's not what you think," Ichigo retorted with a confident smirk, emphasizing on the word 'think'. "You gotta realise it someday, Toushirou. Denying what your mind thinks won't help solve anything."

"...If you want someone to be your guinea pig for trying out your psychological skills, go find someone else to bother, Kurosaki. I am not going to play along these silly games of yours," Hitsugaya replied as he tried to escape by skating, but he felt his arm getting held back by a strong force that stopped him before he could even take a step, and blushed from the physical contact.

"Ah, ah, see? You're thinking about me suddenly holding you, aren't ya?" Ichigo cooed with even more confidence.

Struggling against the hold, Hitsugaya retorted defensively, "I don't get my thoughts associated with perverts like you. Now let me go."

"No can do, Toushirou."

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou!!"

"Nope, ain't gonna bother me this time. You're still Toushirou to me, no matter what you say." His lips curled to a chesire cat-like grin which certainly made Hitsugaya quite uneasy. "You say you want me to call you Hitsugaya-taichou, but I'll call you Toushirou instead. After all, you like me calling you Toushirou, don't you?"

"Wha...what are you getting at...?" Hitsugaya asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Ichigo felt the other relax in his hold, and he relaxed as well. Hitsugaya didn't budge, to Ichigo's expectation. "...Toushirou, I think there's something you wanna tell me, right?"

"..."

Ichigo sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just have to go first. Toushirou...I..." Gulp. "I..."

"..."

"...I..."

Blush.

"...I..."

Bigger blush.

"...I...I...oh, dammit! I can't say it!!!!"

"...You're contradicting yourself, baka-face..." Hitsugaya mumbled, face as red as a cherry tomato. "Forget it, Kurosaki. There's nothing more between us other than friendship, and we can't do anything about it..."

"Oh, right, you may not be able to do anything about it, Toushirou, but I sure as hell have something to do about it," Ichigo replied, anger beginning to fuel inside him. The hand that was holding onto the white-haired taichou's arm had quickly released its hold and stretched to grab Hitsugaya's collar instead, bringing his favorite little taichou closer to him while he himself leaned in before he landed his lips unto the young taichou's.

Tense and sharp gasps filled the entire ice-skating rink. Ichigo and his lithe partner could only guess that they were coming from the other captains and the lieutenants, but they couldn't be bothered. Well, Ichigo couldn't be bothered. Hitsugaya was just...too shocked to think. Emeralds were wide and more piercing than usual, but at the same time, they had gone soft and were expressing the inner emotions their owner had kept caged up for so long. Hyourinmaru was dancing about in the cool air-conditioned air, its euphoric roars gone unnoticed by the kissing couple on ice. On its back, Hichigo was whooping for joy while Zangetsu was being...Zangetsu.

He could feel it; he could feel every single bit of it. It was truly like embracing the coldest element of all, and giving it all of his warmth and comfort without putting it at risk of melting. The iciness of Hitsugaya's lips soon sunk into Ichigo's before it reached his tongue intertwined with the other's as they exchanged hot and cool breaths. Oh, how he missed kissing the life of death; oh, how he missed tasting the frigidity of winter; oh, how he missed Toushirou...

Slowly, he moved away from his heart's desire, breaking the kiss. With closed eyes and jelly legs, Hitsugaya almost keeled over and fell to the ground when Ichigo embraced him with strong open arms, preventing the fall from ever happening. Eyelids fluttered open, melting Ichigo's heart when he bore his eyes into the other's dazzling emeralds. Grinning, he whispered affectionately, "So, what do you think, Toushirou?"

Blinking, the white-haired other blushed and looked away. "...I think you're an idiot."

Smirk.

"Love ya too, Toushirou."

---Shinigami on ice---

"Taaaaaaaaaaaichouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!"

With a twitch, Hitsugaya yelled from across the ice, "Shut up, Matsumoto!"

"Taichou! Taichou! Taichou! Taichou!" Matsumoto continued, ignoring her captain's order. She skated towards him at full speed and hopped into the air before falling on a wide-eyed taichou of the 10th Division next to an even wider-eyed substitute shinigami who watched with a sweat drop running down his face. "Taichou! You did it! You did it! You confessed your feelings for Ichigo-kun!"

Flushing deeply, the white-haired taichou tried to push his big-busted fukutaichou off him, careful about touching her boobs, but she was just too heavy for him. "Matsumoto, I order you to shut up..." he snarled underneath her heaven.

"Aw, c'mon, taichou, you've been hiding your feelings from him ever since we last came to the human world for the arrancar business! And now you two are finally together!! I'm so happy for you, taichou!!!"

Before Hitsugaya or Ichigo could say anything else, a loud obnoxious voice boomed, "Iiiiiiiiiichigooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"

When the orange-haired vaizard heard his name being called, he turned and instantly went from diao mode to volcano bull mode. "OI! What the hell are you doing here, old man?!?! And-whoa whoa whoa, stay back!!" he screeched, giving Isshin a shoe mark right smack on the face. "I don't want your icky mucus and tears on me! The hell you're crying about anyway!?"

"Ohh, Ichigo...I'm soooo proud of you...my son..." Isshin cried, wiping the fake tears streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls. "When your friends here told me that you were in love with someone, I...I instantly booked this entire ice-skating rink for you and made sure no one would come in and disturb you and your love! And you've really hooked up with the one you love! Such a beauty too...Sniff," he sniffed before continuing, "Ohhhh, Masaki, you have blessed our child with happiness..."

"...Where did you get that?"

Sniff. "Oh, this? Why? What's wrong, my dear boy?"

"...It's a plushie of Mom..."

With lit-up eyes in excitement, Isshin body slammed his son as if embracing him in a hug and cried some more. "Yes!! I missed your mama so much I made the doll so that I would remember her!! You like it, don't you?! I'll go and make one now!"

"Urusai! I'd rather make one myself!"

Pause.

"...So I assume..." Hitsugaya spoke, attracting everyone else's attention. "...that you, Matsumoto, thought up of this stupid idea and went ahead to inform all of the captains and lieutenants about it, and thus thought that the joy should be shared with Kurosaki's family so you also went ahead to inform Kurosaki Isshin about the matter, am I right?"

"Sugoi, taichou! You're so smart! You figured it out faster than we thought you would!"

Sighing in defeat, Hitsugaya muttered, "...Actually, I figured it out when we first arrived here."

"That's even better, taichou! You're living up to your reputation! I'm so proud to be your loyal fukutaichou!" she squealed, gaining a whole new reason not to get off her poor little taichou lying on his back on the ice.

"Who also shirks all the paperwork and responsibilities to her taichou. A 'loyal' fukutaichou, indeed," Hitsugaya commented dryly, vein popping. "Don't think I'll let you off the hook only because you made Valentine's Day memorable for me, Matsumoto."

Another pause.

"V-Valentine's Day? Whatever are you talking about, taichou? It's not Valentine's Day..." the strawberry blonde replied nervously, wringgling her fingers.

"Huh? It's not?" Ichigo piped, blinking in confusion. "But it's the 14th of February and it's Valentine's Day...isn't it? And...huh? Rangiku-san, did you lose your voice? Your mouth is moving but there's no sound from you..."

Hitsugaya eyed his loyal fukutaichou slapping herself on the forehead for not able to stop Ichigo from revealing the so-called truth and rose an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid, Matsumoto. No one would go around giving flowers and chocolates and whatever gifts on any other day other than Valentine's Day and White Day, and don't think that I have no sense of time; I know it is the middle of February."

"Wait. You keep track of the dates?"

Oh, holy crap...

...He fell for it.

"Kyaaaaah!! You've been waiting till it's Valentine's Day so that you could confess your feelings to Ichigo-kun!? That must mean you really really like him a lot, don't you, taichou?! Ahh...taichou you're soooooo cute..."

"Wait. Matsumoto, get away. Now. No, no, Matsumfowo!!!!"

Hitsugaya certainly didn't like spending the rest of his Valentine's Day deprived of oxygen.

A/N: And that's it! Yup, Happy Valentine's Day, minna! Actually, if you're unclear about the plan Matsumoto hatched, it's to make Ichigo jealous so that he would blurt out his feelings for her precious taichou, and...well, here's a note from her which she wrote for Kyouraku which was then sent to the soutaichou:

It is Valentine's Day in the human world, so I was thinking that if we could all have a big big fun party with Ichigo-kun! Ne, ne, we all know how taichou feels about him, riiiiiiiight? So, how about this: we have a little ice-skating party (yay, taichou will be soooo happy!) and each and every one of the taichous will do something that will make Ichigo-kun jealous. I think he likes taichou too, so let's all hook 'em up together on this Valentine's Day and make both of them happy! -smiley face-

...Obviously, Matsumoto was drunk when she wrote that.

Wait. You want some more?

If so, scroll down...

Valentine's Day's not over for our favorite little couple yet. Kekeke...

It was a peaceful night under the moon and the stars. Ichigo took in a breath and gave a contented sigh. It had been a tiring day at the ice-skating rink, most definitely, but oh, what he would give for just to spend more time with his dear little shiro...too bad everyone had to leave for Soul Society. Apparently, Yamamoto was quite worried that some of the divisions might start creating havoc since none of Seireitei's true leaders was there to maintain the peace and order within Soul Society and, since their day off was almost over anyway, ordered for all of the taichous and fukutaichous to return to their respective divisions at once.

Sighing once more, he stared at the full moon in the starry-filled heavens. Who knew when he would see his true full moon again...?

"Kurosaki?"

Ichigo turned, and smiled at the figure standing in front of him.

How about now?

"Hey, Toushirou."

"Hn," came the quiet reply as Hitsugaya walked closer towards the orange-haired human in his gigai, taking a seat next to him on the open field where it was exposed to the moonlight and starlight.

"What're you doing here? I thought you had to-"

"I asked to stay here." With a pause, Hitsugaya added, "For a while longer."

Smirking, Ichigo teased, "And leave all your duties for Rangiku-san to handle?"

"...I wanted to test how 'loyal' she claims she is."

"Ah," the orange-haired substitute murmured, resting his head on his hands and lying on the comfortable grass. "So, you wanted to tell me something? Are ya finally gonna tell me what you think?"

Hitsugaya stared. "The poem that Kyouraku-taichou mentioned earlier..."

"Why? Find it romantic?" Ichigo cut in, arching an orange eyebrow.

"...To be frank, it sounded sick," the white-haired taichou replied bluntly, only continuing with a much softer and gentle tone when he saw the twisted look on Ichigo's face, "But...it was quite...nice. Thank you, Kurosaki."

"Huh?" Ichigo asked, acting dumb. "Why are you thanking me? It was Kyouraku-san who recited that poem to you, not me."

The young prodigy shook his head lightly and continued, "No. He may have recited it, but...you wrote it."

"...How...how did you know?" Ichigo asked, dumbfounded. Was Toushirou psychic or something? He seemed to know almost every single thing in the world...or at least, in Karakura and Soul Society. Oh, and other people's brains. Sometimes, Ichigo would write little ditties about how telepathic his favorite little taichou could get...

With a scoff and a beautiful smile, Hitsugaya stood up. "You like Shakespeare's works, don't you?"

That explained everything.

Gone unnoticed by everyone else was the ice-skating marks left behind on the floor of ice, lines intertwining each other by various skate sizes. The mark of a heart was made, and within the heart were the kanji characters for Ichigo's and Hitsugaya's full names. What appeared to be scribbles at the sides of the heart were actually the messy signatures of the leaders of Soul Society, and all the way at the bottom right hand corner were two more signatures which distinctively belong to a certain newborn couple.

From above, Hyourinmaru smiled before leaving to find its owner.