So first ever HitsuMatsu romance story! YAYYY ~~

Basically, my gal pals and I were sharing our terrible date stories and I've also been reading a lot of hitsumatsu lately, so now here we all are.

To anyone who follows me for Ichihitsu, I've got a short one-shot idea in my head, so I'll get around to it very soon, I promise.

WARNINGS: Look Idk, a bit of swearing I guess, and some sexual stufffff. Don't read if you're still in primary (elementary?) school, ok?

*.*.*.*

Captain Hitsugaya's Guide to a Good Date

PART I:

TUESDAY, 9:17pm:

Toshiro watched his lieutenant pace back and forth in the office, her usual happy smile no longer visible as she chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She was waiting to go on a date with Lieutenant Hisagi of Squad Nine; they were supposed to be going to a bar just outside the Sereitei's Northern gate.

Now, Toshiro was no expert on going on dates, having only been on a handful himself (yes, that's right, he has been on a date before, thank you very much), but he was pretty sure that turning up two hours late was considered rude, and rude was exactly what he believed Hisagi was being right now.

A frustrated sigh brought him back to the present, and he glanced up at Rangiku as she flopped down onto the office couch/her day bed.

Toshiro honestly wasn't quite sure what to say. This was certainly not the first time he'd seen her disappointed by a man. In fact, Rangiku had been on numerous terrible dates in the past and she'd been stood up just as much. It had been happening quite a lot lately. He didn't understand why the woman put up with it; she was Rangiku Matsumoto – Lieutenant of Squad Ten, not some desperate academy student.

Having lost all resolve to complete the form in front of him, Toshiro peeled himself away from his desk. He made a fresh batch of tea, poured himself and Rangiku a cup each, and headed back over to the couch.

Rangiku was sprawled out on the sofa, one arm draped lazily over her abdomen and the other brought up to shield her eyes from the harsh fluorescent light overhead. One leg dangled over the side of the couch and the other straightened out to rest on the arm. Despite her less than classy position, Toshiro could still admire her beauty; her long strawberry blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing her face and highlighting the bold choice of lipstick that adorned her plump lips. Rangiku was without a doubt the most gorgeous woman in the Soul Society, Toshiro knew, and although her loud, brash nature was not his usual type, he could appreciate her attractiveness like any other male.

She wore a tight, black skirt that was incredibly short, stopping just above mid-thigh, and an equally tight, short-sleeved top which was bright pink in colour and even lower cut than her uniform (if at all possible). Hisagi might get a nosebleed, Toshiro pondered as his eyes skimmed over his lieutenant's enormous bust. He wasn't a breast man himself, knowing full well how dangerous those things could be when weaponised; too often had he found himself suffocating in the valley between Rangiku's mountains.

"Here," Toshiro said placing Rangiku's cup of tea on the coffee table as she slowly pulled herself into a seated position.

She thanked him quietly as she blew on her steaming tea. He could tell she was upset that Hisagi still hadn't shown; her shoulders were slightly slouched and her finger nails tapped a melancholy rhythm against the side of her mug.

Although Toshiro had little interest in boobs, he did, however, have an irrational fetish for collar bones. It was a little weird, he knew this, but as his lieutenant stretched back and laid her head against the top of the couch, her collar bone stuck out a little more than usual and he couldn't help but feel a little turned on. Rangiku had a good a figure, and so he only saw her collar bone when she stretched or held herself a different way, which was good, because he doubted he'd get the same pleasure out of it if she was so skinny that he saw it all the time. She'd probably have to develop a severe eating disorder for that to happen and Toshiro definitely did not want that.

"What time did you say Hisagi was supposed to be coming again?" Toshiro asked tentatively, not wanting to upset his second seat any more, and took a sip of his tea.

"He said he'd meet me here at seven," Rangiku sighed, "What time is it now?"

"Almost half past."

"Seven?"

"Nine."

Rangiku groaned and used her free hand to cover her face. She slumped sideways and came to rest her head on Toshiro's shoulder. Toshiro swapped his tea to his other hand so that he could put his arm around her and tuck the hair covering her eyes behind her ear. It was a friendly gesture and nothing more; they'd been in the position many times before, and often in the reverse too, and both were completely comfortable with it.

After a few minutes of Toshiro rubbing Rangiku's shoulder and silently wondering how on Earth a man could stand up a woman like her, a knock at the door brought the occupants of the room to attention.

"Rangiku, are you in there? It's me," Hisagi's low baritone voice sounded from just outside the office.

Seriously? He was two and a half hours late!

Rangiku jumped up in delight, "Come in, Shuuhei!"

Toshiro cringed at the sing song tone of her voice; she was supposed to be mad, not happy.

The wooden door slid across revealing a rather dishevelled looking Hisagi. His shirt was creased and untucked and one of his shoelaces was undone, causing him to stumble on his first step into the office.

"Sorry, Ran, I fell asleep," The dark haired man apologised, "Do you still want to go?"

"Oh, that's okay, I fall asleep all the time, just ask my captain!" Rangiku giggled, "Yeah, let's go!"

Toshiro rolled his eyes at her antics and easy forgiveness. Standing up, he walked over to his desk and immediately began to complete his paperwork. He really wanted to say something, to tell Hisagi it was not okay for him to treat his lieutenant like that and to tell Rangiku to have a little more respect for herself but he knew that more harm than good could come of that; he'd need to pick his moment wisely.

"Good night, Captain!" Rangiku turned to him, "Don't stay up too late now, the paperwork can wait until tomorrow."

"I wouldn't have to stay up so late if you'd just do your share, Matsumoto," Toshiro muttered.

Rangiku only giggled before grabbing Hisagi's hand and pulling him out the door, a giant smile plastered on her face.

Toshiro could only sigh and continue filling out the paper in front of him.

*.*.*.*

WEDNESDAY, 12:10am:

It was sometime after midnight when Toshiro finally left the office. He stacked his paperwork, washed his tea cup and then headed out into the deserted central corridor of the Tenth, locking the door securely behind him.

He could see the moon shining bright directly above him as he crossed through the open quadrant in the centre of his division; it was crescent shaped tonight, much like the blade at the end of the chain of his shikai. The quadrant looked much bigger now that it was empty compared to when he holds whole squad meetings and almost 300 soldiers try to cram in.

He nodded to the division members on night watch as he entered the sleeping quarters. His personal room was at the very end as most captains' quarters were; the idea was to give captains more privacy, keeping a big distance gap between their room and any other room so no soul reaper would have a reason to be there, unless looking for their captain specifically of course.

As Toshiro walked, he could hear the peaceful snores of his soldiers. It was a quiet night in the Tenth, as most mid-week nights were; he was grateful that it wasn't the weekend, otherwise his division members would drunk and in party mode right now. They were usually pretty tame during the week, well most of them anyway – his lieutenant was the one exception.

Suddenly, loud banging and a frustrated string of swear words sounded from further up the corridor. He didn't need to see it to know it was Rangiku coming home from her date.

He rounded the corner to see her leaning heavily against a door and trying to fit the keys in the lock, before dropping them accidently. Rangiku bent over to pick them up, but in her drunken state and ridiculously high heels, she lost her balance and toppled over. A beat of silence passed as he watched her lay unmoving on the floor before she finally let out a pained groan and rolled onto her back.

"Matsumoto," Toshiro called, walking over to her and helping her up, "What have you done to yourself?"

"Heeeeeey Captain!~~," Rangiku slurred, seemingly happy to see him, "Have you come to rescue me?"

He assumed that Rangiku was trying to wink suggestively at him but she couldn't isolate one eyelid from the other so she just ended up blinking at him dumbly as her face screwed up in concentration. Toshiro chuckled at her efforts, and eventually she gave up with a pout.

"My keys aren't working, Captain!" She cried.

Still holding his lieutenant up with an arm around her waist, he sighed and stooped down to pick up her fallen keys.

"That's because this isn't your door, Matsumoto," He explained, "It's a storeroom."

"Ehh?" Rangiku asked, now obviously very confused and disorientated.

Toshiro slowly turned them both around to face the door opposite the storeroom, "This is your room."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Rangiku giggled as she traced the sign on the door in front her, a sign that read 'Lieutenant Matsumoto's Private Living Quarters'.

Toshiro sighed again, and pushed the keys into the lock, twisting until the click and then turning the doorknob.

"Here you go," He told Rangiku, slipping the keys into her hand and slowly releasing his hold on her. She swayed but stayed upright.

"Thanks, Caaaaptain! What would I do without you?"

Rangiku took a tentative step through the threshold and immediately stumbled, heading straight back down to the floor. Toshiro caught her quickly.

"Dammit, Matsumoto, why did you drink so much?" He asked, not expecting her to answer.

He slid an arm under her legs and the other around her shoulders and carried her to the bathroom. Their rooms had a similar layout, so he found it almost straight away. He slowly lowered Rangiku to a sitting position on the rim on the bath tub, and angled her so she was able to lean back against the bathroom wall and hopefully not fall into the tub. 'Hopefully'.

He found her toothbrush and applied some toothpaste. He handed it to her along with a cup of water. She obeyed the silent order without hesitation. Toshiro also found a wash cloth and ran it under some warm water.

"Close your eyes," Toshiro spoke softly, crouching down and lifting the cloth to Rangiku's face.

Toshiro gently began to wipe her face, and gradually all the make-up came off. Rangiku always wore make-up to work and even more when on dates; he had only seen her without it a handful of times within the fifty or so years he'd known her. He honestly couldn't see that much of a difference though; she had a pretty face either way.

Rangiku continued to brush her teeth in a lazy manner before leaning forward to spit in the sink. She then silently went about drinking the cup of water.

"What do you normally where to bed, Matsumoto?" Toshiro stood back up, intending to fetch his lieutenant some pyjamas.

"Nothing," Rangiku flashed him a grin.

"Um…okay, then," Toshiro choked out, doing his best to hide his blush as Rangiku laughed manically.

He led her into the bedroom, and gave her some privacy while she undressed. In her kitchen, he found some painkillers and another cup which he filled with water. By the time he got back to the bedroom, his lieutenant was thankfully fully covered under the blanket and fast asleep.

Toshiro allowed himself a soft smile as he placed the water and painkillers on her nightstand and wrote her a quick note before heading to the door and flicking off the light.

"Good night, Rangiku"

*.*.*.*

WEDNESDAY, 11:35am:

Rangiku woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, dry mouth and an awful feeling in her stomach. She groaned and winced at the way-too-bright sunlight streaming in through her windows. It was probably near midday.

Rolling onto her side, Rangiku covered her eyes with her hands. Why did she have to drink so much last night? She was normally a heavy weight, but last night she had really outdone herself. Cup of sake after cup of sake…and shots, oh so many shots. She briefly wondered how Shuuhei would be holding up this morning.

A sudden pained gasp left her lips as her head throbbed even harder against the inside of her skull. Damn, she was going to have to get up and find some painkillers if she wanted to survive this day, but the thought of getting out of bed and stumbling around her kitchen did not sound inviting.

After several minutes of groaning and mentally complaining, another harsh throb pushed her up into a sitting position; she needed a painkiller pronto.

Rangiku turned and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The fast movement was a bad idea, she realised, as the world around her spun and she did her best to keep last night's liquid dinner from making a speedy exit up her oesophagus and out her mouth. As she concentrate on not vomiting, she stared at her nightstand and once the nauseous feeling had passed, Rangiku realised she was staring at a packet of painkillers and a glass of water.

Well, that's handy, she thought, shakily reaching out to the items. She wondered if she herself had put them there as she popped two small pills out of the plastic and swallowed them with a gulp of water. Rangiku doubted that it was her; she wasn't the most proactive of people. Shuuhei? No, Shuuhei had been just as plastered and gone his own way once they reached the Ninth.

Rangiku then noticed a little note left on the nightstand. She picked it up, and once her eyes could adjust, she saw the familiar slanted script of her captain; it read 'don't be late to work'.

Oops, she was already late according to her alarm clock.

She racked her brain trying to remember if she'd seen him after the date. She must have because it did sound like something he'd do. He always took care of her, no matter how badly she messed up, or how self-induced her struggles were. Rangiku slowly began to recall her captain helping her get into her house late last night, and she remembered him helping to wipe her make-up off. She smiled; of course it was him who left the painkillers and water next to her bed. No one else would have done that for her.

Lying back down, Rangiku snuggled into her blankets. She'd just have a short nap before heading into work, just to let the medication take effect; she was already late, so what did another half hour matter?

When she awoke again, the painkillers had indeed done their job and her stomach felt much better. She was hungry now too, a good sign. If she got up now, she'd be just in time for lunch-

3:21pm!

Shit, now she was really late.

Twenty minutes later she was hurtling through the office door and startling her captain. Toshiro looked surprised to see her.

"I wasn't expecting you to come in at all today, Lieutenant," Toshiro voice was clipped and tinged with irritation, "Nice of you to join me."

Rangiku knew he really wasn't that mad at her. She was late every morning and left early every afternoon. It was more for show than anything; he was probably trying to convince himself that he still held some sort of authority over her working hours.

"I'm sorry, Captain! I slept in, and then I felt really sick, so I slept some more," Rangiku explained with an exasperated expression, "Thank you for leaving me those painkillers, they were a real lifesaver."

She winked playfully at him but he just glared at her.

"What happened to you last night, Matsumoto? I thought you were on a date?"

"I was, Sir!"

"You're not supposed to get drunk on dates."

"Says who? Shuuhei was drunk too," Rangiku replied. She tapped a finger on her chin in a thoughtful pose, "He was a lot more drunk than me, now that I think about it."

"That makes it even worse," Toshiro muttered coldly, "Too drunk to even walk you home, I assume?"

"Yes?" Rangiku answered, unsure where her captain's hostility was coming from, "I'm a big girl, Captain, I can walk myself home and it was only one division away, so who cares?"

"I care," Toshiro snapped.

There was a moment of silence between them as they stared at each other. Rangiku felt trapped under the intense gaze of her captain. His teal eyes had always been a mixture of beautiful and terrifying, and so she let her eyes drift down to the floor. She heard a quiet sigh from the other side of the desk.

"I know you can take care of yourself, Matsumoto," He explained softly, "But that's not the point. If you take a girl on a date, you should walk her home afterwards, its common courtesy."

Rangiku met her captain's eyes once more. They were softer now, looking at her with a great deal of care and concern.

"Furthermore," He continued, "You were so drunk, what if you had fallen over and hurt yourself? Or what if you had accidently stumbled into the Eleventh? I hate to think of what those barbarians might have done."

"I could take every one of them," Rangiku joked, trying to relieve the tension.

"Yes, you probably could," Her captain gave a little smirk before falling serious again, "But not in the state you were in last night, and definitely not unarmed like you were."

Rangiku found herself feeling pretty stupid. She could remember falling over in front of her room last night and trying to unlock the wrong door. Toshiro had seen it all and had been the one to help her. She couldn't really argue his point; he was right, she took a huge risk when she drank like that and then went off alone.

"I'm sorry," She said, and sincerely meant it. She knew her captain was protective of her, as he was with all his squad members, and she'd made herself look like an idiot in front of him.

"I'm not mad at you, Matsumoto…okay, I'm a little mad at you, you shouldn't have drunk that much and walked home alone," He responded, "But I am more mad at Hisagi for treating you like this."

"Like what, Sir?" Rangiku asked; a little confused.

"Like you don't even matter to him. He was two and a half hours late to your date, and when he did turn up, he was untidy and offered a poor excuse. He didn't even bring you any flowers. He then got so intoxicated that he couldn't walk you home, and he let you go walking around the Seireitei alone in a very similar state."

As he rattled off reason after reason, she was surprised to see how much he knew about dates. Maybe she had made him sit through too many romantic comedies with her.

"What do you know about dating?"

"I'm not a child, Lieutenant, I have been on a dates before," Toshiro answered icily, and Rangiku knew she had pissed him off.

"What?" She exclaimed, not at all helping her case, "With whom?"

She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealously at the thought of her captain on a date with another girl. Probably a cute, wholesome girl…like Momo or Orihime.

"That's not important right now," He answered with a clipped tone, "What is important is the fact that you continually go on these crap dates with stupid guys that have no idea how to treat a lady."

"Hey, that's not tru-"

"Hisagi, Abarai, Kira, and don't even get me started on Madarame…"

She cringed remembering some of those dates. Renji had been a total ass, gallivanting about the place like a baboon. Izuru had been so timid, she had to pick him up for the date and organise all the details. And let's just say her captain was right not to talk about her date with Ikkaku…she shuddered at the thought alone.

"Well, if you know so much about how to treat a girl on a date, why don't you take me on one and show me how it's done!" Rangiku exclaimed, letting the heat of the moment take over.

Her captain paused over the form he had been about to pick up from his stack of unfinished paperwork. Rangiku too paused, the breath caught in her throat.

"You want me to take you on a date?" Toshiro rasped out, looking back up at her with disbelieving eyes.

Rangiku thought about it for a second, what was the harm really?

"Yes, as a friend, to make your point," She answered coolly. To be honest, she was getting a little giddy on the inside.

Her captain rolled his ink brush in his hand as he appeared to mull things over. After a minute, he gave a confident nod, having finally reached his decision.

"Fine, we will go on a date, as friends, and I will show how a real date is supposed to go," Toshiro concluded, "How does Saturday night work for you?"

"Perfect."

*.*.*.*

THURSDAY, 12:13pm:

"Where are we going on our date, Captain?"

"There is a restaurant in the second district on the South side. It specialises in modern Western cuisine, that's your favourite, right?"

"Y-yes," Rangiku stuttered from her place behind her desk, surprised her captain knew that about her. She did love trying all the western-style food, but it was hard to come by in the Soul Society.

"Good, now get back to work."

*.*.*.*

THURSDAY, 1:46pm:

"Will you be wearing regular clothes on our date, Captain?"

"Yes," Toshiro responded without tearing his gaze away from his paperwork, "It's a date, why would I wear my uniform?"

"…"

"Get back to work, Matsumoto."

*.*.*.*

THURSDAY, 2:29pm:

"Can I ask a question about our date, Captain?"

"I think you've asked plenty for today,"

"Can I call you 'Toshiro' on our date, Sir?"

"…"

"…"

"No. Get back to work."

*.*.*.*

THURSDAY, 3:56pm:

"Pretty please?" Rangiku begged shamelessly, "It's supposed to be a real date, remember?"

Toshiro silently contemplated the issue. He knew she'd never shut up about it if he didn't agree, and she'd probably just do it anyway.

"Fine, BUT only 'Toshiro', not 'Shiro-chan' or any other variety, and ONLY while on the actual date."

Toshiro was suddenly glomped by two massive milk bags and had the air squeezed out of him. He was definitely going to regret this.

"Oh, thank you, Captain. This means you'll have to call me by my first name as well!"

"MATSUMOTO! LET GO AND DO YOUR WORK!"

*.*.*.*

FRIDAY, 5:01pm:

"I am going now, Captain, I have an SWA meeting and then I'm going drinking!" Rangiku announced, peeling herself off the office couch and fluttering over to her working captain, "I promise I won't drink too much so I'll feel good for our date tomorrow!"

She came around behind Toshiro and hugged him tightly. Her boobs were pressing into the back of his head but he still didn't look up from his paperwork.

"Alright, Matsumoto," He droned, seemingly bored, "I'll pick you up from your place at 6:30. I'll be on time too, so make sure you're ready."

"I'll be ready!" Rangiku called as she skidded out the office door.

Over the last two days her excitement had been building. It was kind of funny to see her captain under this new light, to see him as a possible romantic partner rather than just a professional one. Of course she knew that the date was just a friendly one, for Toshiro to make his point, but she couldn't help but wish it was something a bit more.

Toshiro had grown up to be quite a handsome young man in Rangiku's opinion; well 'grown' probably wasn't the right word as he was still shorter than her. The height gap had closed a little though, which she was thankful for, as well as the age gap. He could now easily pass for 17, perhaps 20 if they pushed it push it a little, and Rangiku found herself looking remarkably good for her own age. On the physical appearance scale, she believed that they would make a rather attractive couple and not at all weird.

Of course, there was the professional side of things to consider as well. It was not always a good idea for couples to work in the same division, especially higher up the ranks. Luckily there was no law against it; with soldiers living in such close quarters to one another, feelings often developed, and as long as they didn't let it get in the way of their duties, it was generally accepted. Higher ranked couples in the same division have also existed over time, such as the Thirteenth's previous Lieutenant Kaien Shiba and his wife, the Third Seat Miyako Shiba. There were also a number of rumours about Rangiku's good friends, Captain Kyoraku and his lieutenant, Nanao; rumours which Rangiku could confirm, by the way.

Okay, Rangiku was definitely getting way too ahead of herself. She wanted to date her captain, like seriously date him. She didn't even know how her captain felt about her yet. Hell, she didn't even realise she wanted this until it happened. Toshiro was just so perfect now that she thought about it. No one else cared for her the way he did, and none of her guy friends were the gentlemen her captain was.

Rangiku suddenly realised she had already arrived at Kuchki Manor (where all SWA meetings were held unbeknownst to the homeowner). Still caught up in her thoughts she snuck into the secret meeting room and upon entering, she saw Nanao working through the evening agenda.

"Thank god you're here, Nanao, I need your help!"

*.*.*.*

SATURDAY 10:15am:

Toshiro poured himself yet another cup of tea, his third this morning, and tried to get back down to business. He usually did work Saturday mornings to finish off the rest of the week's paperwork while most of the squad enjoyed their weekend off. It was usually his most productive day as there were far less interruptions; no training or drill practice, no meetings and no lieutenant.

Except today he was barely getting through any of it, his mind constantly wandering off to think about his plans for later that night. It was the night of the date, and he was suddenly struck with nervousness. What if it all went horribly, and Rangiku never wanted to speak to him again? Or worse, what if it went really well, and she wanted to go try it on another guy while he fell hopelessly in love with her?

Wait, what? Toshiro wasn't going to fall in love with Rangiku; that was just ridiculous. They were friends, colleagues…family almost.

Did he have a small, tiny, itty bitty crush on his lieutenant? Yes, sure, every male (and a few women too) in the Seireitei did…but did that mean love? No. No, no, no it did not.

Rangiku was attractive, of course, and very sexy, everyone knew that. She was funny too, and he often struggled to hold back a chuckle or smile when watching her antics. Rangiku also cared a lot, about her friends and people in need; it was one of things he admired about her. It was, in fact, the thing about her that saved him all those years ago in Junrinan. He owed his life and the life of his granny to her.

Maybe this date was a bad idea. Toshiro did not want to screw up the relationship they'd built together. He didn't want to tarnish their trust and friendship…but at the same time, he was sick of seeing her being treated so poorly by her 'dates' and even more sick of seeing her let them treat her this way and her thinking its normal. It wasn't normal, and it certainly wasn't okay. She deserved respect, not just as a lieutenant but as a woman, and he was going to make damn sure that she got it.

Having found new resolve to go on this date, Toshiro packed up his work and headed out of the office. He decided to pay the sickly captain of the Thirteenth division a visit, and with any luck, the renowned romancer captain of the Eighth would be there too. He was going to need some more advice, and who better than the Sereitei's most gentle and most charming?

*.*.*.*

Yeah, Rangiku dates a lot of lieutenants…

Anyway, there will be 3 parts to this story and now that you're one third of the way in, how about you (please) drop off a review and let me know what you think? Constructive criticism is always welcome.

~ Geishaaa ~