Chapter Fifteen
"Tch!" the young man returned, folding his arms across his chest. "I can't decide whether you're the most steadfast woman in the world, or the most fickle!"
~*~
Chapter Fifteen
Time nor Tides
~*~
Rangiku Matsumoto self-consciously pulled up the shoulder of her dress as she stumbled through the door to the sick bay. It took her a moment to get used to the sudden activity within - healers running about, patients chatting. Ironically, the hustle and bustle calmed her over-excited heart.
Here, all was normal. Here, all was safe.
"M-Miss Rangiku?"
The lady captain gulped, looking up to see Prince Hanatarou coming her way, a wet cloth in hand. His voice was full of concern, his expression laden with regret. When he reached out a hand to her, she pushed it aside, hastily collecting herself.
"Hanatarou! You really enjoy helping out down here, don't you?" she smiled, absently throwing some still damp hair over her shoulder. She knew from the other man's reaction that she was kidding herself if she thought she could hide this.
What was this? Whatever it was, it hurt.
Hanatarou leaned in closer, concern morphing to worry before her eyes. "Did Hitsugaya...?" he whispered urgently, and she quickly tossed the subject aside.
"He isn't down here then, huh? I thought he might have been sick. It would've explained some things. But I guess he's not. He's so unpredictible, isn't he? You'd think the opposite, but it's just not true." Oh, hell. She was rambling now. When she caught Unohana looking up in her peripheral vision, she knew she had to get out of there.
"It was nice seeing you, Hanatarou!" she concluded as she gave a sound clap to his shoulder. The slight shiver that ran through the appendage didn't pass the young prince's sight. "But I should go. So much planning to do. Would be a pity to have everything foul itself up so close to our goal."
She laughed loudly as she twirled out of the room, every step just one step closer to a face plant. She needed sleep. That was what she needed. After a good night's sleep, this feeling would go away, and she wouldn't care anymore.
She wouldn't care that a Loyal didn't want to touch her.
~*~
Hanatarou, however, knew he wasn't going to get a wink of sleep that night.
As he stared at the still swinging doors to the sick bay, now vacant of their vibrant occupant, he felt a strange combination of emotions. Confusion was one of them, certainly. Concern was another. Dread dominated them. And also relief.
All of his talk about not feeling anything for these pirates, about them being enemies and undeserving of guilt. It was all just talk. In the end, Hitsugaya hadn't been able to go through with it. The outcome of that choice would be devastating, he was sure, but he still felt relieved. After all of this time, after all of this pretending, Toushirou Hitsugaya was still the same.
And now they would all suffer for it.
Before that though, he had a friend to take care of.
He turned his head toward Retsu Unohana, and the woman smiled softly. Permission granted. He was gone before his cloth hit the floor.
~*~
Silently, Hanatarou slid open the door to the storage room they'd spoken in earlier. Nothing about the room had changed, except for one crate that had been pushed ever so slightly to the right. With a deep breath, he closed the door.
When he peeked around the edge of the crate, he found his target huddled into a ball in the smallest niche possible. Shaking hands clutched strands of white hair as if their very existence depended on it. His face was buried in his knees, toes curled inward, shoulders taut as if the slightest movement would break them from his body.
This was one of the bad fits. Hanatarou knew he couldn't fix this. The force behind it was infinitely greater than his own. None-the-less, he found himself pushing the crate out of the way, making enough room to squeeze in next to Hitsugaya.
His companion didn't move. He didn't expect him to.
"...I saw Miss Rangiku."
"I couldn't." The voice was hoarse, cracked, and barely audible. It was so tiny, it felt as if a breeze would extinguish it. Yamada knew he hadn't been crying. He'd been screaming.
"Yeah. I know."
"I wanted to."
Oh. Hanatarou Yamada's eyes widened in understanding.
"I can't want her."
The agonized whisper was clear despite Hitsugaya's roughened vocal chords.
Outwardly, Yamada, Hitsugaya, and the others had always operated under a very strict code. No one person mattered. What mattered was the goal. It was Hitsugaya's own assertion, and he expected it of all of his subordinates. No matter how crazy something seemed, no matter how ridiculous, how impossible, they would do it for the cause.
They would leave someone behind for the cause.
Hanatarou knew that was bullshit.
Despite what they insisted, they never acted on that code. The only person who had ever tried was Hitsugaya himself, and Yamada couldn't count the number of times Hitsugaya had broken it for them. For him, for Hinamori, for Rukia...
This was something else. This was something worse.
There was only one reason why Hitsugaya would hold himself back like this. There had always been only one reason.
"Hitsugaya..."
"He'll take her."
And there it was.
The servant's shaking was getting worse, his fingers digging unholy red marks into his scalp. Yamada felt utterly useless. What kind of healer could sit back and watch this, knowing he could do nothing to help?
"H-He can't touch her, not out here. It's all right. We'll... We'll think of something."
The prince tried to reach out a hand, but his companion jerked at the contact. His narrowed teal eyes simmered with anger, frustration, a rage that had no outlet. A hopelessness that only motivated him further for he had nothing left to lose.
Until now.
"Don't kid yourself! He'll have her the moment we dock!" His voice cracked as he hollered and rose to his feet. Hanatarou was pushed into the side of the crate at his movement, but Hitsugaya didn't care. He couldn't have stopped even if he wanted to. "I can't let him have her! Any of them!"
"He won't!" It was a futile attempt, but Yamada attempted it anyway. Anything to keep Hitsugaya from going mad. "We- We just have to think of something!"
"I've tried! I've tried and tried and tried! There's nothing to think about! There's nothing!" There went a crate, toppling when Hitsugaya launched it. "Dammit! I can't let him-! I can't! Dammit, dammit, dammi-" His overwhelming tirade came to a halting stop when a lump caught in his throat.
He couldn't breathe. He still didn't care. Yamada cared, yanking his companion back to the floor with surprising force. The shock released Hitsugaya's air passage with a gasp.
"Hitsugaya, p-please! Calm down..."
His unstable companion simply sat there, breathing in and out, in and out, in, out, in, out. Finally, he buried his head in his knees again. There was blood in his hair, but Yamada didn't try to touch it.
"I wanted granny, and he took her. I wanted you, and he took you. I wanted Hinamori, and he took her. I can't... stop him."
"I'm right here." Now Hanatarou was speaking no louder than Hitsugaya's hoarse whisper. All the fight had seemed to dissipate from Hitsugaya the moment he landed on the floor, and that scared the prince.
"No. Go away."
"Hitsugaya..."
Hanatarou Yamada was proven dead wrong when Hitsugaya sent a fist flying right into his face.
"I don't want you here! You're so damn annoying! Just like those wretched pirates! If you're so fond of them, why don't you just defect to their bloody crew?"
"I know. I'm sorry. But I'm still here."
It was all Hanatarou could say. It was all Hanatarou could do. Even as he rubbed at his swelling cheek, he couldn't leave this room. He couldn't do what Hitsugaya wanted. He could only get in his way over and over again. He could only cause him trouble, be another mouth to feed, another body to add weight to Hitsugaya's endless responsibilities.
It really was just like what Hitsugaya had said. He'd been taken away.
He was still here, but he wasn't his own.
"Why?"
The question was more of a bite than a word, and it hurt Hanatarou. Not because it was cold or demanding; it was actually soft, barely audible. Not because he expected Hitsugaya to know the answer; he didn't really know it himself. It hurt because he knew the reason for this. The reason for this whole God forsaken mess.
And he couldn't stop him either.
"B-Because I want to be."
Silence. Beautiful, horrible silence permeated only by their own breathing.
It was several minutes before Hitsugaya said anything more, muffled as it was by the material of his pants. "I have to talk to him."
Before Hanatarou had the chance to protest, Hitsugaya was out cold.
~*~
It was early in the morning when Yamada found himself fidgeting outside the captain's cabin. He had no idea how to go about doing this. This was the sort of scheme Hitsugaya or Ishida would pull off. He was no good at acting, had no poker face to disguise his thoughts; Rangiku would see right through him. But Ishida wasn't here, and Hitsugaya couldn't handle the pressure right now.
When Hanatarou Yamada was your only hope, you knew you were in trouble.
Gulping down his insecurities, he finally managed a single knock.
Apparently it was enough because Rangiku opened the door right away. Yamada couldn't hide his surprise when he saw her. The last time she'd run into him, she'd seemed ready to cry, but now she held herself comfortably, confidently. She'd changed out of the dress, back into rugged working attire. She was wide awake and looked positively refreshed. It was as if last night hadn't happened.
"Hanatarou," she grinned happily. "Need something? You look pretty beat."
"I-I was looking after Hitsugaya all night..." he replied, gaze locked on the floor.
Her grin fell. "Oh. What's he been up to?"
"He's married."
"Wh-What?"
Yamada hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. He'd had a whole conversation planned to lead into it, but somehow it always turned out this way. He really was no good at this.
"Th-That's why. When you called him..."
"He didn't seem like the brimming with fidelity type to me," she deadpanned.
Yamada cringed. Hitsugaya had answered her summons after all.
"It-It's complicated..." Deep breaths, Yamada. Deep breaths. He could do this. He just had to say the right things. He couldn't lie, that was too obvious, but half-truths would do. "H-He married her to protect her from something, a-and he doesn't r-really think of her in that way. I think you surprised him because... Because he liked it. And he knows he shouldn't..."
Rangiku tried to absorb the information, and Yamada could see from her narrowed eyes that she didn't completely believe him. Had he said something wrong? What was it? Was it because of that drinking game? Yamada nearly yelped at the realization. His words contradicted everything they'd said during that. Maybe she was too drunk to remember? Maybe she would let it slide?
"Ah!" she smiled triumphantly, suddenly raising her pointer finger into the air. "That explains it! Mrs. Sex Bunny must be the jealous type! Am I right? Hina will hang him out to dry if she finds out!"
The appalling display had Yamada sputtering incoherently, and Rangiku had to laugh.
"I'm joking, joking! Really!" she giggled. "It's okay. I've made up my mind. You and Hitsugaya are here so that we can trade you for Gin. There's no sense in being upset over a silly rejection, so don't worry. I'm a big girl. I can handle it."
She leaned in conspiratorially, winking. The prince just nodded dumbly.
"Is that all you wanted to say?"
He shook his head.
Rangiku sighed before motioning that he could continue. Really. Royalty should be more assertive!
"I... I want Hitsugaya to be the messenger when we arrive," he finally managed, looking pleadingly up into her pale eyes, once again shadowed by her heavy cloth covering.
That was an enormous request, especially after she'd just reiterated that they were the hostages in this situation. But he had to do this. He had to, for Hitsugaya. If he couldn't do this much, what good was he?
"Why in heaven's name would I agree to that?"
"Because Hitsugaya knows how the system works! H-He's really good at manipulating it! And as long as you have me, you can still do the trade! I-I'm the one they want, right? Because I'm the Sixth Prince of Hueco Mundo! I know negotiations won't happen unless Hitsugaya is a part of them! I'm sure of it! It's the only way His Highness will be willing to talk! And Hitsugaya wouldn't leave without me, right? You said that, right?"
He emphasized his points with clenched fists, adrenaline soaring through his veins as he tried so desperately to plead his case.
"You really think..." the woman trailed off thoughtfully, "that he'd be able to negotiate with the man you've told us from the beginning doesn't negotiate?"
"If anyone could, it would be him," Yamada nodded anxiously.
Rangiku was quiet for a moment. A painstakingly long moment in Yamada's opinion. Finally she stood up straight and replied in a commanding tone, "Fine. Though I'll be sending Renji with him."
"That's fine," the prince hastily assured. "Thank you!"
Just as he turned around to leave, however, she called out to him again. "Hanatarou."
"Ah, yes?"
"Was that true? About his wife?"
"H-He is trying to protect her, and it really does b-bother him that he likes you."
"And he's still in the storage room?"
Yamada's eyes widened, and it was enough of an answer for her.
"I told you not to worry, did I not?" the woman intoned playfully. She walked past him, ruffling his hair as she went. "I know just how to handle this. I'll tell him about it myself."
~*~
Toushirou Hitsugaya groaned as he slowly returned to the waking world and all the muscle pains that came with sleeping in an awkward position. His joints ached, and his head hurt. With a dissatisfied moan, he reached back to cradle his head and met someone else's thigh instead.
He opened his eyes to find familiar blue ones looking down at him.
"Maybe this'll teach ya to stop sleeping on the floor, hm?"
Hitsugaya closed his eyes again and forced himself to sit up, freeing Matsumoto's lap. "We have got to stop meeting like this," he countered dryly.
Matsumoto only sat there patiently, counting down until the inevitable. Three, two, one, and...
He whirled around to glare at her, that telling pink hue tinting his puffed up cheeks. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Hanatarou was tired from looking after you all night, Sir Hitsugaya, and so I offered to take a shift so he could rest," she scolded lightly. "Honestly, to be stuck with you as a protector... It's a wonder both of you are still alive."
When she received no frustrated reply, she had to look up. Where was the witty repartee?
Instead of the customary grimace and the hard eyes to which she had grown immune, she found a question in his expression. He was looking at her as if he was expecting something that wasn't coming. If the way he had tensed was any indication, he was expecting something unpleasant.
She sighed, rotating a band of hair around her pointer finger. "Thank you, by the way."
That surprised twitch of his finger gave him away even as he continued to glare defiantly. She smiled.
"I can't very well allow myself to get attached to my hostage, now can I? I have more important things I need to focus on. Like making sure this mission succeeds. We made a deal, didn't we? That we would work together to make sure this goes according to plan. If you hadn't given me that wake up call, I might not have been able to go through with the trade.
So thank you, for keeping your end of the truce."
Throughout her speech, she had watched those tense shoulders slacken and that frown straighten out, those brilliant eyes alight with realization. It was almost like a child gradually comprehending that he wasn't going to be punished for doing something bad.
Hook, line, and sinker.
"I wasn't trying-"
"You don't have to make excuses," Matsumoto waved his urgent explanation away as she stood up, stretching her back in a cat-like arch. "Hanatarou told me aaaaaall about Mrs. Sex Bunny~"
His face was even more scandalized than Hanatarou's had been, and Matsumoto couldn't stifle a laugh. He was to his feet in an instant, demanding things from her even as she gulped down air in a vain attempt to keep from suffocating through her own laughing fit.
"What do you mean Yamada told you? What did he tell you? You can't be serious! What did that idiot say? Stop laughing, you damned woman!"
She grabbed his hand when he reached to haul her up, allowing herself another few seconds to calm down before letting go.
"You don't have to scold him. He didn't tell me anything incriminating," she chuckled. "But I understood. We're alike, you and I. We both have someone for whom we have to make sure this trade goes off without a hitch."
"Tch!" the young man returned, folding his arms across his chest. "I can't decide whether you're the most steadfast woman in the world, or the most fickle!"
And there she went, laughing again. "Good! That means I'm doing something right!"
When he only rolled his eyes in response, she nodded appreciatively. "We'll be docking at Port Resurrección in a matter of hours. Prince Hanatarou says you're the best man to alert King Aizen of our arrival. I don't like it, but... I can't deny that it would be a sound tactic. Of course, it's only sound if we work together. Hm?"
She held up a hand, pointing with her thumb in the direction of the captain's cabin. The cogs were turning in his head, she could see it, and her smile only grew when he let his hands drop to his sides and stepped out the door, waiting for her to follow.
~*~
Chapter Fifteen End