Bleach:Ash and Snow (Private.)

It was another typical day for Rangiku Matsumoto as she some what stumbled through the door of the office where She and her Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya did the majority of their work. And as usual she was quite late, and somewhat hung over from the night before. "Good evening Captain.." She half giggled and half groaned, already expecting what he would have to say to her. Then instead of getting to work she simply reclined on the couch. "My..You sure have been grumpy lately.." The Vice Captain remarked quietly as she rubbed her aching head.

"Do you have any idea how late you are." grumbled the voice of the young Captain seated behind his desk. He currently sat hunched over a particularly tedious sheet of paperwork with his head resting on his hand, scanning the paper for information. "I don't have to hear that from you." his voice rasped slightly before he tightened his scarf trying to cover his mouth. His hand quickly scribbled out his signature before moving onto the next page.

"Aw, come on, I'm here aren't I? It's like I always say, Better late than never right?" Replied Rangiku as she recovered from the brief moment of pain she felt when her Captain raised his voice. "And that was only an observation, would you like some tea to help calm down?" She offered, mostly just because it was another excuse not to be working, but also because Rangiku had grown a tad concerned for her Captain the past few days, some of which where he wouldn't let her help him with the large stacks of work, and sat up late to finish them. "And then maybe you should take a break and let me do some huh?" Rangiku added, trying to get him to take at least just a half hour or so off. But since she'd last botched a few papers a week ago, she knew Toshiro would likely turn down the offer.

Toshiro just glared at her for her response. At the offer of tea he simply nodded his head before returning to work. "Don't bother. I can handle the work." he remarked before moving on slowly to the next sheet of paper. "Besides I can be sure it's done perfectly if I do it myself." he said rather coldly unintentionally insulting Rangiku.

Rangiku flinched slightly under his glare, but smiled and nodded all the same as she stood up. "Come on Captain, I was..Well a little bit drunk.." She admitted. "But I'm fine now, I'm sure you're loosing sleep. And doesn't that kind of fly in the face of your philosophy of 'Children who sleep well, grow well'?" Rangiku questioned as she made an exit to go prepare the tea while she let Toshiro swallow what she just said, and getting out of the room in case he raised his voice once again. "Who knows..Maybe if I nag him enough, he'll take a much needed nap.." She sighed while preparing two cups of tea, slipping a little bit of sake into her own just to help dull the pain of her head ache. Besides she was going to need it when she entered the office once more.

Rangiku returned several minutes later with two identical cups in hand, and set one down by Toshiro, taking the other for herself. But upon tasting it her eyes darted up. "W-Wait, I accidentally gave you mine.. I know you don't like much sugar in yours.." She said quickly, trying to exchange them before Toshiro caught on.

Toshiro sighed and looked up from the work when she began nagging him. "I know that." he gritted his teeth. "But I make sure to get the work done first, then I can rest." he said the last part after Rangiku had left earshot. "Whatever, what does she know." he mumbled coughing into his scarf slightly before returning to work.

"Thank you." he said taking the cup and taking a sip. "Ugh." he coughed after tasting the drink. "Sugar? But- this is bitter." he said still disgusted at the taste of the alcohol. "Just give me mine." he said haphazardly setting her cup back down before reaching out for his own. His hand managed to hit the top of the tea cup knocking it off the table and spilling her sake laced tea. "Ugh." he exclaimed watching as it soaked his neatly stacked paperwork "I just finished those." He shouted grabbing his head in frustration.

Rangiku knew full well of course he hadn't been getting much rest as he was devoting most of his time to work, and causing a lapse in his sleep schedule. Due to this he generally wasn't getting his naps, or much sleep at night. But after returning to the room with the tea. She cringed slightly as he took a sip. "Well..Maybe I put too many leaves in.." Rangiku managed as she made a motion to switch the cups. The Vice Captain cringed slightly as Toshiro spilled the tea, knowing full well she'd have a very angry Superior Officer to deal with in just a few seconds. Not to mention, that was almost the last of what was some very expensive, and quite good in her opinion sake. "Um..Here's your tea.." She offered while carefully lifting the majority of the papers off the top of the still few unsoiled ones.

"Here, I'll clean that up. And I'll go down and get replacements, then redo them myself." Rangiku said as she fetched a clean wash cloth to clean the spilled tea. "Just calm down, it'll be fine.." She said with slight fear as it was obvious Toshiro was fuming over what just happened. "Here, You left your book by the couch, why don't you read that..And take a nap while I finish up here.." She suggested, hoping to avoid the Young Captain's wrath.

Toshiro fumed and glared at Rangiku getting ready to scream at her. "You-" Toshiro's voice broke with a rasp, he was far too sore in the throat to yell it seemed. "Just give me this." he said roughly taking the tea and drinking much of it in one gulp.

He looked back at her trying to salvage some of the papers. At least she was doing work. He sighed "Fine you can take care of that." he cleared his throat before drinking more of his tea. He flipped again glaring up at her, despite the fact that he thought what she had suggested about taking a nap was a good idea, he refused to make it seem like she was telling him what to do. She could see now the bags that had developed under his eyes "You don't tell me when I take a break." he said sounding like a petulant child. He took his book back and set it on the desk before making a move to get out of his desk. "I'm going to go to the couch and rest my eyes." he said making his move towards the couch that was in the office.

Rangiku flinched and stepped aside slightly as if trying to dodge the sound she thought was about to pierce her ears, giving a relieved sigh when it didn't come out. "Yes sir.." She mumbled as he chugged the tea, and scolded her slightly. Rangiku had to struggle to keep her face straight when she saw the bag's under his eyes. Not from laughing, but from breaking out into a look of concern and worry. Toshiro wouldn't admit it, but he was still physically a child. And surely Rangiku was no doctor, but even she knew children shouldn't stay up half the night doing work, and loosing sleep in the process. "I wasn't trying to Captain, it was just a suggestion." She assured him, although Rangiku desperately wanted to command him to go to sleep for a few hours. "Yes sir, I'll get things squared away here, don't worry." Rangiku said as Toshiro went over to the couch.

Then after collecting the papers that where still decent, and cleaning up the floor. Rangiku picked up the tea cup, and set off for the main office to retrieve new copies of the ruined documents. All the while she hoped Toshiro would be sound asleep when she returned, and would stay that way as she got some work done. If not she was beginning to think he just might work himself to death..If that was even possible.

Then upon returning Rangiku crept into the room as quietly as possible to check if Toshiro was asleep or not before getting to work.

Toshiro looked back up at her face and uttered "You better clean all of this." to let her know he was serious, before groggily making his way over to the couch. His body almost immediately loosened up as he lay down on the incredibly soft cushions. He nestled almost perfectly into the indent caused by Rangiku after all the time she spends laying on it.

'I'll just shut my eyes for a little bit, just until Rangiku gets back with the clean copies.' he thought before shutting his eyes. The moment his eyelids made contact he was out. By the time Rangiku came back he was sleeping soundly on his side so that his back was facing the window so he wouldn't be disturbed by the light escaping into the room.

Rangiku couldn't help but smile. Partly because it was like a small victory for her, and she was extremely glad that her Captain's health wasn't in so much danger from sleep deprivation. But there was also the fact that her Captain, no matter how mature he acted, Petulant, rude, or otherwise. He still sometimes looked so innocent while he slept. It was times like this that reminded her of the little boy she'd found in Rukongai that fateful day. At this point she just couldn't resist tip toeing over to him, as if walking on egg shells to gently pat the top of his hair. Which only made her smile more as it was incredibly soft, even softer than her own which she had mixed feelings about..

But after a few minutes that felt like seconds of watching the Young Captain sleep peacefully she quietly made her way back to the door to place a 'Do not disturb' sign on the outside, and lock it. After that was taken care of, Rangiku sat down at the desk to begin working. With any luck she would finish more than Toshiro had done before he awoke.

Toshiro coughed slightly in his sleep before she approached. He gave a content sigh from her touch. Every now and then his breathing gave a sense that he was stuffed up, or he would cough. However despite these sounds he remained in a deep enough sleep that Rangiku could have dropped something and he wouldn't have stirred.

Rangiku had to keep herself from cooing at the boy as he sighed from her touch. It was generally easy to suppress, but at this point she couldn't help thinking the boy was absolutely adorable. But after tearing herself away from his side Rangiku got to work. And every now and then, she would stand up to get a peak at what her little Captain was up to. The fact that he was congested, and coughing slightly raised some concern, but she went on working, knowing he needed his sleep, and that she'd have to wake him, then talk him into taking something for it. Eventually an hour passed her by, and she was just about done with the new stack, having switched to a stamp to increase the speed of completion. In another half hour Rangiku finished what was done before. From there she went on working, being careful to ink the pad properly, and center the stamp in the area.

Then she was sure that by time Toshiro was done she'd have more done than before she spilled the tea. And maybe, if he slept long enough she would be done with most if not all of it.

Toshiro continued to sleep as the hours passed, his body no doubt trying to catch up for the sleep he missed. Over the course he would occasionally cough again, or mumble some unintelligible gibberish before turning over and nestling deeper into the cushions. By the time he began to stir the sun had already began setting and Rangiku would no doubt be finished with the work.

As the sun set, Rangiku finally finished breathing a sigh of relief. And wearing a smile of anticipation of what praise she might receive from her Captain. After verifying he was still asleep, she went over to sit down at the base of the couch to watch over Toshiro some more, unsure as to weather or not she should wake him. It did feel slightly addicting to gently stroke his hair as he slept when he would mumble or cough. There also was a sense of satisfaction in how she was able to soothe and comfort the sleeping boy, as the coughing was of a slight cause for concern. "Shhh, it'll be alright, just sleep." She whispered when ever the coughing picked up. Perhaps it was just a dormant maternal instinct, but Rangiku began to predict when ever he would stir, and stop the stroking of his hair in case he woke up. Some time after the sun had set, Rangiku sighed unsure of what to do with the sleeping boy, since she didn't feel right about leaving him there alone, or what would happen if he slept to long. "It's okay to wake up now Captain.." Rangiku sighed quietly as she quietly stood up to watch over him.

Toshiro finally began to wake up at once Rangiku stood up. He gradually opened his eyes before sitting up on the couch. It didn't register in his mind that hours had passed while he was unconscious so he immediately shot off the couch. "Shit." he cursed gritting his teeth and looking back at his desk. "I meant only to rest my eyes nto fall asleep." he panicked looking around before spotting Rangiku standing over him. "Why didn't you wake me?" he yelled clearly upset. He immediately turned and made his way to the desk to finish the work he assumed wouldn't be finished.

Rangiku jumped slightly when he shot off the couch, and had to remind herself that Toshiro wasn't the child he appeared to be, then let the fact that he cursed fly right over her head. "C-Capain.." Rangiku began as she cleared her throat, following him over to the desk. "All the paper work is done, and it's nighttime... I didn't wake you..Well..Because you looked so peaceful, so I went ahead and finished the work." She stated, leaving out the fact that she was stroking his hair, and whispering to him while he slept. "Now, if I might..Offer a suggestion..Perhaps we should both go back to our quarters, and get a good night's sleep?" Rangiku added while fumbling for a light switch to make seeing in the darkness of the room easier. "And also..You might want to have yourself looked over..You were coughing an awful lot while you slept." She informed him while looking the boy up and down.

"You did the work?" Toshiro stammered incredously as he approached his desk. It didn't take him long to look through enough papers to realize that she wasn't lying. "All of it... You actually finished..." he stared up at Rangiku before uttering some words he rarely ever said "I'm sorry." he mumbled. This didn't last long before he turned serious again "But you still should of woken me up. At least then the work could've been down faster." he said getting out of his chair and heading back to the door.

He took his time to survey the room, making sure to not forget his book. He coughed again as he grabbed it from his desk. "I just spent most of the evening sleeping I don't think I'll-" his statement was interrupted by a rather obnoxious grumbling sound coming from his empty stomach.

"Yup, I didn't have anything better to do..And I guess I kind of owed you.." Rangiku smiled, resisting the temptation to pull the boy into a hug. "What? I didn't catch that.." Rangiku giggled as Toshiro stood up. "I forgive you..Provided you let me get away with this.." She smiled while giving the boy a light hug. "No really though, thanks. That was very kind. I appreciate it." Rangiku stated before sighing as he mentioned waking him up. "Captain, I care about you. You needed a good nap.. And I was happy to fill in while you did what was needed by your body." She said honestly while following him over to the door, trying to think of a way to get him to agree to at the very least drinking some herbal tea.

When she heard the little Captain's stomach growl she pat her own, realizing she was hungry as well. "Well, that aside, why don't you come over and I'll fix us some dinner. Or we could go out somewhere, my treat." Rangiku offered as she flicked the lights off. "And then at the very least let me make you a little herbal tea.." She pleaded hoping he'd accept the offer.

Toshiro gaped from the hug. "H-hey!" he said shocked that she would suddenly invade his personal space like that, although it wasn't out of the ordinary for her to do so, he just wasn't expecting her to do so now. Even so for the brief moment she held him against her he actually felt nice. He blushed after she let go, before coughing again. "I would've napped after the work was done." he retorted turning his head away from her momentarily.

He looked back when she offered to treat him to a meal. He was originally planning to turn her down and just head home himself, but she did finish all the work, and it did feel good when she hugged him, so he figured he might humor her. "Fine, but don't make anything crazy." he said remembering how Rangiku had actually liked the food that Orihime served, enough to actually learn soem of the recipes to take with her back to Soul Society.

Rangiku was glad to see Toshiro didn't shove her off as he usually did, but she wouldn't dare call him cute at this point. "Sorry..Couldn't help myself. Us girls just like hugs for some reason." Rangiku shrugged, suspecting Toshiro actually enjoyed it, but there was that cough again.. "If you say so, but what's done is done. And don't you feel so much better now?" She pointed out as they stood by the door. "So you'll let me make you dinner?" Rangiku asked for confirmation, resisting the urge to hug him once more. "Well what would you like? I can make fried rice and grilled chicken if you don't have something else in mind.." She offered as they got on their way.

Upon arriving at her quarters Rangiku invited him inside, and directed him to the couch. "just wait here while I get you something for that cough and get dinner started. Did you come up with any other ideas for what to have?" Rangiku encouraged as she made her way to the kitchen to first prepare some herbal tea, having learned the recipe from Isane, who no doubt got it from Captain Unohana.

"I guess that sounds alright." Toshiro said his stomach grumbling again after the mention of chicken. He followed behind her as they walked admiring the night sky, somewhat embarrassed he had spent so much time sleeping today. "It's your place, it's only right you make what you want." he murmured not really caring what she made. He looked about the room, sneering slightly at the empty sake bottles that were littered around various spots before sitting down on her couch. Not sure what else to do he opened his book up and began to read.

It didnt take him long to get invested in the story, enough to relax on the couch with his legs tucked up in a similar position most children take while reading something interesting. He coughed a few more times, but still didn't seem all that bothered by it as he continued to read.

"Well you're the guest, but if you're fine with that. That's what we'll have." Rangiku replied happily as she went over to the kitchen, and within fifteen minutes she returned with a small cup of tea, lightly simmering and smelling of mint, which was mostly used to add flavor. "Here, why don't you drink this while you wait? Vice Captain Isane taught me how to make it, and it'll help with your cough. It actually tastes alright to." Rangiku informed him while setting the cup down on a coaster before leaving for the kitchen once again. She smiled on the way back, finding Toshiro's focused look, along with the way he sat somewhat cute, and reflecting of his inner nature.

With those thoughts Rangiku got out necessary ingredients and pans, then began making grilling two chicken breasts awhile before starting to mix sauces, and spices in with white race in a larger pan to make the fried rice. Then before an hour passed she called over to Toshiro as she set the food down on the table. "Captain, dinner's ready. It looks like it turned out really good I think." She said with a smile, obviously enjoying herself.

"Thanks." Toshiro mumbled just barely looking up from his book to grab the cup and take a few sips. He found the hot tea to be very soothing on his throat, and it did help with his cough quite a bit. He soon returned to his reading until Rangiku called him in for dinner. He sat down seeing where the food was set up, he assumed the smaller portion. Sitting down he grabbed the chop sticks and thanked her before he started to eat.

He ate rather quickly, mostly out of hunger, but he did take the occasional break to drink, or cough. "This is good." he mention off-handedly while wiping some sauce from his mouth, but missing a small spot on his cheek.

"You're very welcome Captain, and thank you coming along to keep me company." Rangiku said cheerfully before beginning to eat her own food. She couldn't help but enjoy herself at the moment. As she was glad to see her Captain not so uptight, and angry for the first time in awhile. "I glad you like it, can I get you anything else?" Rangiku offered, giggled slightly as she noticed the missed spot of sauce. "You missed a spot.." She said, composing herself while pointing to her own cheek as she ate. "And there's still some more rice if you want to eat it now, or I can pack it up for you to take home." Rangiku informed him before taking a sip of her own drink.

As they ate, Rangiku made conversation about smaller things, and asked Toshiro about his cough before getting up to clean the dishes. "Here, I'll get these. Would you like to play a game of Shogi after I'm done?" Rangiku asked, knowing it wouldn't take to long since she was mediocre at best, and of course Toshiro being the prodigy he was, would have a great sense of strategy for the game.