[Log] Toushirou Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto

[kellenanne]

Title: Tour Guide
Characters: Rangiku Matsumoto (some_scribbles) and Toushirou Hitsugaya (kellenanne)
Timeline: April 7, 1948
Rating: PG
Summary: He'd just met this woman, so why was he following her around like a lost puppy?

When Toushirou agreed to letting this Rangiku woman show him some of the ins and outs of the city - the city that wasn't a woman but was a man and hell if that wasn't confusing - he had no idea she was so crazy. If he'd known that, he would never never have agreed to this.

Especially since her idea of showing him the city ended up with him right in the middle of some of the biggest, loudest, most obnoxious crowds he'd ever seen. Might as well get used to it, he supposed. It was New York City, after all, and he was going to be living here. Erie had nothing on this place. (Or maybe it was the other way around; he was beginning to miss the smaller town.)

Rangiku had taken to babbling some sort of trivia about every corner they came to, and he was beginning to think that her use of "captain" was more out of amusement than respect. He decided to just ignore that part of it; at least she was calling him "captain" and not "kid" or something.

She talked incessantly, led him to places he was sure he was never going to be near again, and took every opportunity she could to bait him.

Never mind he was actually gleaning some pretty pertinent information. Maybe. If he could sift through her babble about the price of wind chimes in Chinatown for the good stuff, he might be doing well.

Maybe.

Rangiku had finally triumphed. She had found the perfect wind chimes, and had managed to bargain the shop-keeper down to something actually reasonable. She turned to look at the kid--Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya. He had his arms crossed and was scowling in her general direction.

Well, he’d put up with her for longer than she’d thought. She hadn’t been able to crack a smile out of him yet, though. Maybe it was time to take a different approach.

“So, Captain,” Rangiku said as she shoved open the door to the shop and stepped back out onto the busy street. “I finished my errand. Is there any place you want to see next? Any spot in the city that interests you?”

There it was again; she was calling him Captain and he still couldn't figure out if she meant it nicely or sarcastically... or even somewhere in between. He rolled his eyes. It wasn't worth dwelling over.

He still stopped to consider her and twitch over it every time she called him Captain.

He raised an eyebrow at her question. They'd been all over Chinatown, she found her damned wind chimes, and showed him just about everything but what he'd joined this little excursion to find. "The subway, Miss Matsumoto," he said - snapped really. "I'm very interested in the subway."

Rangiku eyed him. He was obviously missing the point. This was a tour. If he wanted to figure out subway routes, he could buy a map.

“Which subway, Captain? Which line, I mean. The red, the blue, the black?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Where do you want to go? This is supposed to be a tour you know. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me which part of the city you want to see.”

He hesitated, because he didn't know one end of this city from other and honestly, even if he did, he wasn't sure if he could take much more of this "captain" thing. Damn it, but he'd never thought his newly acquired title - which he was proud of - would ever become a source of irritation.

Fine. Whatever. Subway it was. He opened his mouth to tell her exactly which line he wanted and then promptly shut it when he realized that he didn't remember. He lived just off the... black line? And that connected with the... blue line? Was that how he'd gotten to this end of town? Why couldn't he remember? Damn it. He was not usually this stupid about things. He could process a crime scene, spot bits of evidence no one else would ever see, and remember details from cases long past, but remembering how the subway worked was apparently beyond him.

Black. Blue. It would all fade to a lovely purplish-yellow after he was done beating his head against the nearest wall.

"What do you have in mind, Miss Matsumoto?" Maybe she'd drag him by a place with maps of the subway.

One could hope.

Rangiku cocked an eyebrow. Well, OK, she guessed she’d left that one open for him. What an unfriendly, short little man. “Like I said, Captain, it all depends on what you want to see. Are you interested in the museums? Washington Square has become a gathering place for the local poets, and there is a chocolatier there that makes the best fudge. We could always go downtown if you felt like wandering through some of the more…colorful districts.”

If he thought she was just going to offer to take him home, he had another think coming. This was New York City. And from the impression she was getting about Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya, if someone did not intervene, the only parts of it he would see would be the route-the first route he took-between his apartment and his office. He’d only go out on the streets if he had a case to inspect.

That kind of ignorance could get a bird killed.

And as cranky as he was, Rangiku didn’t want to see that happen. Whether he was pumped full of holes or just dead of boredom, she was determined that he’d get to know something in the City that would help him prevent it by the end of the day.

"And please, call me Rangiku."

While the fudge was tempting - just for a second, that's all - Toushirou really couldn't justify spending time wandering downtown, or wherever she wanted to drag him. What was the point? It was unproductive and absolutely time-wasting. It was something Momo would do, not something he'd take to. He did not wander and gawk. He arrived somewhere and did something productive. Wandering and gawking was not exactly his style.

Never mind he couldn't think of a single reason to observe a poet. What good would that do? If he ever needed a look inside a poet's mind for a case, then maybe he'd observe. Until then, what good did wandering and gawking among a bunch of vacant-headed rubes do?

He didn't have a much better opinion of either the museum or the "colorful" districts. And even if the fudge tempted him for a moment, it wasn't worth the trip. It couldn't be.

Toushirou looked up at Rangiku - God, he did have to look up, damn it - and shook his head. "I don't see the point." You did your job, you found what you needed, and you did not wander and gawk.

Even if fudge was involved.

Ran’s jaw worked for a moment but nothing came out. He didn’t see the point? He didn’t see the point? What the hell kinda answer was that!

Hands still on her hips, Rangiku bent down until she was eye-level with him, completely disregarding the way her shirt spilled open at the motion.

“Why did you move here, Toushirou Hitsugaya? To work?”

He responded to her question with a stony glare, his wide eyes stubbornly refusing to move from her face.

Rangiku was exasperated. “No, you idiot! You came here to live!” She reached over, grabbed his wrist, and began dragging him down the block behind her. He didn’t know where he wanted to go? He didn’t want to see anything in the city? Fine.

She knew exactly where she was taking him.

Toushirou didn't even have time to think about the eyeful he was presented with when she leaned down before she was declaring him an idiot and clamping a hand around his wrist.

"Hey!" That was not an indignant squawk he uttered when she pulled him along behind her. (Indignant maybe, but it was definitely not a squawk. It was more dignified than that. And if it approached squawkiness, it was only because he nearly landed on his nose when she first yanked.) "Where do you think you're going?!"

He wasn't the idiot - of course he came here to work; what else would he do? - but it was fairly obvious she was. Who just dragged someone down a street? A police captain, at that! He got his feet under him and matched her pace, muttering a little under his breath. Crazy woman; only he was lucky enough to run into someone quite like this.

And he wasn't about to admit to the simple curiosity that kept him protesting anymore than that. He could pull his wrist free. Really, he could, if he wanted to.

He just kept telling himself that: he could get away at any time and he wasn't curious in the least.

“We are going some place fun.” Rangiku tossed back. “You know, ‘fun?’ It’s something kids like you are supposed to be familiar with. And since you’re apparently not interested in learning about the city, it’s going to be a bit of a trip.”

She turned her head to pin him with her gaze, “Of course, you don’t have to come.”

In fact…she stopped and dropped his wrist right there. “Honestly. You can walk away right now. You can tell me which street you live on, and I’ll point you to the nearest subway and walk away right now, no hard feelings. But if you don’t come…you’ll never know what you’re missing, Captain.”

Crossing his arms as quickly as he could manage - without making it look like he was trying to make it quick - he got his wrist out of her reach, and looked up at her with narrowed eyes. She'd let him go, would she? Point him in the right direction and everything. The crazy thing was he actually thought she'd do just that if he said the word. (It probably helped that she'd saved him from himself not that long ago.)

He shook his head once; he was giving this way too much thought. Granny would have smacked him upside the head once and told him to quit thinking and do something for once.

Fine. He could do that. He sighed. "Lead the way."

Rangiku eyed the way he snatched his wrist back and folded his arms across his chest with thinly veiled amusement. Did he think she was going to slap some bracelets on him and drag him off? That was more his line, wasn’t it?

And she didn’t hide her pleased grin at his acquiescence. “Good! Now, it’s a bit of hike, but I think it’ll be worth it. It’s definitely something everyone should see at least once.”

With that Ran turned to lead him to East Broadway Station. They climbed down the stairs and waited for the Q train.

Making a run for it crossed Toushirou's mind more than once, especially when they descended right into a subway station. Surely he could figure out which train to take, right? Which line to hop onto? Which... damn it, there was no way. He needed a map. He absolutely needed a map.

He moved to stand beside her, arms crossed, and glanced up at her. "What's a bit of a hike?" And it had better be worth seeing at least once. He was giving up his afternoon at home for this one.

Rangiku deliberately misinterpreted his question. “Why, where we’re going of course.” She slid her gaze over to him, “That should be obvious, Captain.”

The Q train pulled up with a rush of warm wind and the doors slid open. Fortunately, it wasn’t very crowded at this time of day and Ran could see plenty of opened seats. An hour was a long time to be standing, especially pressed against other people.

She stepped into the train and turned to smile back at him. “Coming?”

He blinked at her, taken back by her answer. She couldn't be that stupid. She couldn't, could she? Where we're going. Of course. How could he have been so dense?

He watched her step onto the train, half-tempted (again) to bolt and find his own way home. But... then again... He sighed - a short hiss of air - and stepped on behind her. He didn't bother so much with pleasantries - she had dragged him this far, so she could deal with any crankiness that resulted - and went right past her and to an empty seat.

Might as well sit down, since he still didn't know where he was going or how long it was going to take.

Rangiku bit off a laugh at the way he walked past her without a word. Like he was punishing her, or something. He was doing that scowl-pout again, and it was all she could do to not just squish him.

There were plenty of open seats on the train, in fact the only other passengers in this car were all the way down by the other door. But all the same, as the doors slid shut and the train started to move forward, Ran walked over to where Captain Hitsugaya was sitting and sat down directly beside him.

She was half-way tempted to just wait and see how long the silence would last. But she was curious too. “So, Captain, where are you from? It’s kinda obvious, no offense, that you’re not a native.”

No offense, of course. He snorted softly and rolled his eyes toward her. He wasn't all that keen on just telling her where he was from, but she had a point: it was pretty damn obvious he wasn't a native.

That, and he was getting the feeling she wasn't about to let well enough alone. She'd probably keep at it until she got some sort of answer from him, and honestly it wouldn't take much digging at all to find out where he was from.

Even so, it didn't mean he had to be completely forthcoming. "Erie."

“‘Erie,’ huh?” Well, wasn’t that…informative. The corners of Rangiku’s lips twitched upwards. So he was going to make it that kind of game? The kind where she asked questions and he responded in one word answers, possibly in monosyllables. That kind of game had the potential to get boring and frustrating and make her feel stupid. She had a better idea.

"Sounds like an interesting place." And with that she began humming under her breath, “Fifteen miles on the Erie canal.”

Rangiku had many talents. Singing wasn’t one of them. She was well aware of this.

It was a long train ride. She could do this the whole time. She wondered how long it would take for him to snap.

He saw her lips twitch and had just enough time to wonder what the hell she was going to say or do next before she did it. He'd already discovered that when this woman looked impish, one should start to back away. Not slowly either. He, unfortunately, was stuck on a train.

Oh... God... He was either going to start clawing at his own ears or her throat. What the hell was that noise? It took him a few bars before he realized it was supposed to be a song, and then another couple to figure out which song it was.

Fifteen miles on the Erie canal... He scowled; she was going to get it stuck in his head.

And he hated that song, simply because half of the people he'd introduced himself to referenced it the moment they discovered where he was from. He had to give this woman credit though. She took it a step further and actually started humming.

He grit his teeth. "Yes. Erie." If she thought she could get to him...

...well, hell, she was probably right.

Ran glanced at the Captain out of the corner of her eye. He looked like he was sucking on a lemon. He was sitting up ramrod straight and positively glowering at her. It was hard not to laugh.

Well, his response was hardly more informative, but it showed that she was getting to him. It probably wouldn't take much more.

Rangiku simply nodded companionably to show that she'd heard him and continued to hum.

He wondered briefly if it would be easier to throw himself from the train or her. Either way, he'd have blessed relief from the humming. Or what she tried to pass off as humming. She hit a particularly sour note and he flinched.

Low bridge. Everybody down.

He cringed. Sour note. So very sour.

Low bridge, 'cause we're coming to a town.

He hated that song. He hated it beyond rhyme or reason. His fingers tapped his knees. This had to stop. Really. Now. "You can stop now." So what if he said that through clenched teeth?

Rangiku was extremely proud of herself for not busting out laughing. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. He was so easy to rile!

Well, that was hardly a foray into more civilized conversation. But it did have more than three syllables. Although she was tempted to continue to hum until he got the point, Ran decided that it would be only right to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, this was the first time they had met.

"So, Captain. Whereabouts is Erie?"

Ran hoped she'd get a better answer this time. If not, she could always start humming again.

Toushirou considered, just for a moment, answering with either a grunt or just one word, but he was pretty sure that him simply saying "Erie" had initiated the godawful humming. With what he was figuring out about this woman, she was probably more affronted by his refusal to elaborate. (And why should he elaborate? She had asked where he was from and he'd answered. He didn't see a problem with that.)

"Pennsylvania," he answered with a quick glance at her. Goddamn it, but she actually seemed interested. Who was interested in this stuff? "On the lake."

And if he actually had to tell her which lake, he might throw himself from the train. It was Erie. What lake could it possibly be on? Perhaps Lake Erie?

'Pennsylvania on the lake,' huh? That was progress. He not only offered the state but he offered some description as well. She could work with that. "I've never been out of the City. What's it like there?"

He raised an eyebrow and finally deigned to actually look at her. He honestly couldn't tell if that was genuine interest in his background or she was just making conversation. Either way, he wasn't looking forward to the humming again.

"Less buildings," he said. How else could he explain it, if she'd never been out of the city?

Less buildings. Brilliant. Was he trying to be difficult? She decided to ask him.

Rangiku crossed her arms and turned to face him fully. “And what are you going to tell me next, Captain? That they’re smaller than the buildings in the Big Apple? It’s an hour long ride. Tell me, are you trying to be unpleasant and uninformative?”

Well, yes, they were smaller buildings. It was a smaller city. It only made sense. He crossed his arms and cocked his head, giving her a wary - and maybe somewhat disbelieving - look.

Yes, he tried. Just like she apparently tried to be damned annoying. "It's a natural talent." He was beginning to think her penchant for irritation was just as natural.

She asked a question. He answered. He didn't see a thing wrong it.

Rangiku blinked at him. He had just…and as serious as you please…

She lost it. Ran threw her head back and practically howled with glee. She cracked an eye open and looked at him-he was staring at her like she had suddenly grown a second head-and she lost it all over again.

Rangiku laughed so hard she thought she might have bruised a rib. Wiping tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes, Ran turned to face the captain-and promptly started laughing again.

He stared as she burst out laughing. And kept staring as she kept laughing. What the hell was wrong with her? He was not an amusing person, and he hated being laughed at. Lord knows that had happened rarely enough before. Momo was always the culprit. When a strange broad he'd basically been coerced into spending an afternoon started in on him, he honestly was a little lost.

Just a little. It seemed getting cranky was a good all-around defense mechanism.

"Are you done?"

"Are you done?"

Chest heaving, Ran tried to stop laughing. Really, she did. It was a Herculean effort. And, eventually, she managed to shut her mouth and curtail her laughter to silent shaking.

She took a deep breath and took in his cranky pout. It looked as if Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya was not used to being laughed at. Well, wasn't that just too bad?

Ran ducked her head. She made her tone as meek as possible and looked up at him through her lashes. "Yes, Captain."

Somehow that just seemed really insulting. It was amazing how much this woman could pack into her tone and words. It wasn't sarcasm, not quite, but it certainly wasn't sincere.

Well, no... It was sincere. He took that back. It was sincerely irritating, what she could imply. He glared at her and snorted.

At least she'd stopped laughing.

It had to be a step above her making his title sound... undignified or something. He couldn't even explain it and that just made him more annoyed.

And now he was sulking. Well, that wouldn’t do. Ran searched her brain for anything in their conversation which would make him more comfortable, and latched on to the one piece of information he’d freely given her. “Lake Erie must be very beautiful. I’ve heard that when you stand by it, it seems as endless as the ocean.”

She settled back into her seat and uncrossed her arms, relaxing her posture in the hopes of him picking up her subtle clues. She knew better, though, to expect any sort of response to something that wasn’t a direct question. So Ran changed the topic to something she thought he would talk about. Work. “What division are you captain of?”

He nodded once before he caught himself. Lake Erie really was something; this woman didn't know the half of it, having never stood on her shores. The lake was definitely "very beautiful." It was one of the things he did miss about Erie.

He watched her sit back and relax - a deliberate move, he thought, but he could appreciate that. "Homicide," he told her. It wasn't a secret and if she could make an effort, so could he.

Then he realized he really didn't have anything else he could say. How could he elaborate on that?

All right. Fine. He'd revise that: if she could make an effort, he could try.

And they were back to the one-word answers. At least ‘homicide’ had more than two syllables. Ran could accept that. After all, it’s not like she had asked a very leading question. Well, that could always change.

She took a moment to reassess the bird sitting next to her. No matter how she looked at it, he still didn’t look much older than eighteen to her. And yet the NYPD had made him a captain? In the homicide division? Either he was delusional, or he had to be something very, very special.

Ran leaned more towards special-it was in the way he carried himself, arrogant, defiant, like he could take on anything; the way his large eyes took in all of his surroundings, the way he had adapted to each new and surprising situation she’d thrown his way that day. But she was holding delusional in reserve.

“I have some friends in the police department,” she decided to offer, in hopes that she would be able to establish some form of common ground and make him feel a little less like she was pumping him for information. After all, she was just curious. “Lt. Shuuhei Hisagi and Yumichika Ayasegawa. Yumi works with the Academy recruits. But I guess you wouldn’t have had to go through the Academy, transferring in as a Captain…”

She gave him an assessing stare. “So, Captain…what made you decide to move from Erie to the Big City?”

Toushirou quirked a brow at her moment of silence; she looked at him and he could practically see the gears working there. She'd mistaken him for a child on first glance and he'd just told her he was not only a police officer, but a captain. He'd seen a variation of that look before; one that was disbelieving and clearly told him they thought he was crazy.

This woman, though, actually looked like she believed it. Sort of. Maybe almost believed it.

And then she spoke, probably trying to establish her place in among the "good guys". He hesitated, then answered. "I know the names."

Conversation. He could do this. He thought that right up to the point where he tried to answer her last question. What could he say to that? He followed a girl? That wouldn't come out right at all. He wasn't about to tell her about Granny; that would come later, if at all. "Family," he finally said. "I came out because of family."

That... sort of covered it?

Great. Now he was just confusing himself.

“Family, huh? That must be nice.” At least, Rangiku hoped it was nice. She realized it was a possibility he was running away from family just as much as it was that he had come here to be with somebody. But he didn’t really look like the kind of bo who ran…

Still, family was always a touchy subject-more personal than he would probably like to go. And Rangiku didn’t have anything to add from personal experience, so it would probably be better to just change the topic. “I’d imagine it’s different, transferring in as opposed to earning your way up. Homicide especially…it’s tough. I mean, murder is murder no matter where you are, I guess, but the quantity of cases at least has got to be a change.”

That must be nice. For one moment, Toushirou wondered if she was simply saying something just to speak or she actually didn't know... Still, family was a subject he wasn't going to go delving into, whether they spoke of hers - or lack thereof, whatever her answer implied - or his. It wasn't as if he had much of one to speak about, at any rate: a dead grandmother and a woman who wasn't actually related probably didn't really constitute family.

Better not to talk about it, he was sure.

His work, though, was a different story. He bristled a little at her comment. "I earned my way up." To imply he had not... His eyes narrowed. He had earned his way; he wasn't one of those dirty cops who bought their position or one of those lucky ones who caught an undeserved break.

...just try telling that to a few of the birds in his department. Damned idiots insisted on being difficult, insinuating he was just some palooka who caught a lucky streak, and Erie was nothing compared to New York City. That may be true - Erie was pretty quiet - but that didn't change the fact that he worked for his position.

Rangiku raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t implied otherwise-ah, sore spot, huh? Well, with looks like his, and the way things were, it was only to be expected. “I just meant it must be different transferring in than being home-grown is all, Captain. But I guess you’ve heard all about that, huh?”

She shook her head, “Don’t let it get to you. We’re an ingrown lot, New Yorkers. You’re from the outside. But give it some time, and you’ll be stomping the pavement like you grew up here. This city tends to make you its own after a while. You’ll have your chance to prove yourself. When did you start your new position?”

Yes, he'd heard and, as a consequence of continually hearing, he knew exactly how New Yorkers could be. He'd heard it over and over again lately. He sighed softly; she'd backpedaled so he could give her the benefit of the doubt. Why mention it again?

"Not long at all." He could count the weeks he'd actually been a captain. He hoped she was right and he'd settle in before too long. He didn't have to be liked or accepted. He didn't care about that. He simply wanted to be able to do his job without people following behind with their snide remarks and their determination to find his mistakes.

And now he was back to being unhelpful. Before he had been too specific, now he was being deliberately vague. Well, it wasn’t as if she needed to find out all about him in one day. Her main priority was to get Toushirou Hitsugaya to get out and live a little, to encourage him to explore.

So she decided to stop asking questions. He obviously wasn’t enjoying himself, and she didn’t feel like working any harder to get answers than she already was.

Normally, Rangiku would fill the silence with small talk-random facts about where they were passing through or amusing stories about her friends and his co-workers. But she had a feeling that would make him more uncomfortable rather than less. And so, partially to prove to herself that she could and partially because she was curious what would happen if she did, Rangiku set herself to riding out the rest of their trip in silence.

Silence. It was a blessed thing but soon he caught himself glancing at her, trying to gauge her mood. This woman hadn't shut up since the second they'd met and all her chatter had never once seemed forced. She seemed open and friendly and naturally not a silent type.

So why was she just shutting up?

To his eternal shame, the silence actually started to wear on his nerves. It wasn't natural, her being this quiet for this long. (He took a moment to remind himself he had known her for all of a handful of hours, but that didn't help in the least.)

He couldn't help it. He honestly couldn't. "Where are we going?" He didn't know how long he'd lasted, but it was long enough for him to get increasingly uncomfortable; he thought he might have snapped about the time his fingers started drumming against his knees.

He broke the silence. It wasn't right... but somehow? She should be talking. That's just how it was supposed to be.

Thank God. Much more of that and Rangiku was sure she would burst. The silence hadn’t been awkward, far from it, but she was just…not used to it. She’d be able to sit quietly with her friends, on rare occasions, but she still didn’t know Toushirou Hitsugaya well enough to feel entirely comfortable.

It was interesting, though, that he’d broken the silence first. Maybe he wasn’t quite as opposed to her company as she had begun to suspect? She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Either way, they were nearly there. She didn’t want to tell him and run the risk of him jumping train, or anything.

And right on cue, the train began slowing down for there final stop. “You’ll see in a few minutes, Captain.”

Rangiku stood, glad to stretch her legs, and reached out to hold one of the metal bars placed in the center of the train for support as she waited for the train to stop and the doors to open.

Obviously. He snorted softly and stood with her, hesitating just a moment before grabbing the same bar she did. He should stick close, since he was obviously going to be lost the second he stepped off the train. (In fact, he was pretty sure he was lost even on the train. Damned too-big city.)

The train slowed and Toushirou told himself that he was not going to stumble when in stopped. He'd done that often enough that it didn't need to happen here and now.

He hated these trains; getting used to them was taking just about everything he had. It stopped without him taking a tumble or stumbling over his own feet or anything and the doors slid open, but Toushirou wasn't about to be the first one off the train. She was the one with the plan.

Stepping out of the train, Ran glanced around the station to determine the exit for Surf Avenue before heading in that direction. It had been a while since she had last been to Coney Island. She was looking forward to the expression on Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya’s face when he figured out she was bringing him to an amusement park. Maybe the next time she offered, repeatedly, to let him pick the spot, he’d listen.

Exiting the subway, they were greeted with fresh, salt-tinted air. Seaside Park blinked at them with its usual green cheer from across the street, and Rangiku took a deep breath before turning to smile down at her…well, ‘guest’ wasn’t quite the right word, and neither was ‘friend.’ Victim, perhaps?

“It will just be a bit of a walk now, Captain.” Ran turned and started walking west down Surf Avenue.

Water was the one thing he’d mentioned of his own free will. Rangiku had a feeling that he’d loved Lake Erie. That same feeling was telling her that he’d love the ocean. She’d take him to the Wonder Wheel first, so he could see it from up high, and then lead him onto the beach. Getting to Astroland without seeing any hint of the ocean would take some doing, but she was comforted by the fact that he had no idea where they were. She’d take them down Surf Ave until they hit W17th, and then they’d go up to Mermaid Avenue. That should take care of it. She’d just have to be really careful when they were in the park.

Toushirou could smell the salt in the air as soon as he stepped off the train. It was shameful, something he'd never admit to, but it put him a little more at ease. It shouldn't have; no simple smell should entice him to let his guard down, but... damn it, it did.

He could feel the water close by; it lent a quality to the air he'd be hard-pressed to explain and one he'd missed in the city itself.

He glanced at the woman occasionally as he followed her down the street; should he be suspicious? Had she known, or was this bringing him obviously near water a fluke? He knew he relaxed - he needed to work on that - but did she?

It was enough to set him on edge again.

Right up until he took another whiff of the air.

...damn it, but this could be a long afternoon.

He was glowering at her. Again. And with more suspicion than when they had been on the subway. She was starting to wonder if that was his default expression, or if something had happened in the past…what, three minutes?...which had set him off.

Still, the tense line of his shoulders had eased a little, and he was walking along with her and not pulling out his badge and demanding answers, so Rangiku guessed that it could be worse. She decided it couldn’t hurt to offer a little information as long as she was careful not to say exactly where they were going. “We’re in Brooklyn now, all the way south. I used to come here a lot as a kid, not so much anymore now that it’s a hike.”

Yeah, she’d spent about two years in Brooklyn when she was a kid, doing things she certainly was not going to tell Captain Hitsugaya about. Coney Island had been a sweet spot back then-all those tourists so close together, they didn’t notice you’d gone in for a dip until you were already good and gone. And if you could sneak into one of the parks, the operators didn’t ask questions.

“Still, it’s a fun place to come when you have time to enjoy it. Nathan’s is just a little further down the street. It’s a great place to get hot dogs, if you’re interested. And they have pretty good fries there too. If not, we’ll keep going until we hit 17th.”

He was appreciative of her telling him where they were going. It made him a little less suspicious. (Just a little, since she wasn't telling him the ultimate destination.) Nathan's, huh? He could admit to feeling food might be a good idea before too long, but... hot dogs? It wasn't his usual fare.

They might be good, though.

"So, what's after 17th?" he asked.

“Mermaid Avenue,” Rangiku answered his question without the slightest hesitation and then proceeded to completely diver the course of the conversation. “We had a week-long Mardi Gras celebration down that street before the war. So much fun! Such a press, and you could never be sure if you’d seen the same person there or not because everyone was always dressed up as something different, and people are usually out on the roof. And there were floats and parades and-oh, the costumes were great. They’re trying to bring it back this year, I hope it happens.”

They turned down 17th and made their way away from the ocean, towards Astroland. He should be able to see some of the rides peeking out pretty soon. Rangiku couldn’t wait to see the look on his face.

He almost asked her what came after Mermaid Avenue, but he was pretty sure he'd just get another street name. He had no idea where they were going and she wasn't helping.

So he kept quiet and followed. While that went against the grain, he didn't have much other choice. The only other thing he could do was turn around and go home - wherever home was.

Then he saw it. At first he thought it was just a fluke - he could not have seen what he did - but he looked again. Then again. And blinked and looked again.

A ferris wheel?

Where was she taking him?

There was the Wonder Wheel. And a bit of the Cyclone was peeking out too. Rangiku cast a glance down at the captain out of the corner of her eyes. A satisfied smile curled her lips. They were nearly there.

And if he thought she was just going to volunteer information about their destination, he had to be crazy. So Rangiku kept up the pleasant chatter about some of her experiences at the Coney Island Mardi Gras as they continued down Mermaid Avenue to finally approach the ticket booth at Astroland.

First, she's all talk and gets him used to her always making noise. Then, they get on the train and she's silent. Then, after that, she doesn't give him any straight answers.

Now?

Now she chatters about nothing. With ferris wheels looming over them.

...there had to be a wall somewhere he could beat his head against.

“Here we are!” Rangiku said, interrupting her own story about the disastrous ‘Queen of Hearts’ costume which she was sure he had quit paying attention to long ago. “Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park! Home of the world famous Wonder Wheel!”

She turned to grace Toushirou Hitsugaya with a grin, “I told you I’d take you someplace fun, Captain. What better place to have fun than an amusement park?”

Admission to the park was free, they’d just have to pay when they got up to the rides. Rangiku turned and walked towards the entrance.

His jaw dropped. An amusement park. He'd just followed a strange woman to an amusement park.

What the hell was wrong with him? This... oh, dear God, was this wrong. This was beyond wrong. What kind of idiot fell for...

...his kind, apparently.

"Fun," he repeated, quietly, before following. This was quickly spiraling away from fun.

...and still, he followed.

Deno’s wasn’t too crowded. It was just the beginning of the season, after all. They stepped onto hard packed earth, past a few of the game booths and walked by a booth selling cotton candy.

“Do you like cotton candy, Captain?” she asked. Rangiku wondered if she’d be able to take him on one or two rides first before taking him to the Wonder Wheel.

He kept close, half afraid he'd manage to disappear into the crowd and never find his way back. This was fun? This was... not fun. This was nerve-wracking.

He eyed the booth they passed. Cotton candy? He barely knew what it was, much less knew if he liked it. He snorted and shrugged.

How should he know? It wasn't like places like this were a usual haunt of his.

She decided to take that as a yes. Marching over to cotton candy booth, she smiled up at the vender.

“Two, please.”

The kid behind the booth-couldn’t have been eighteen-goggled at her before speaking. “That’ll be 2 bits, ma’am.”

She smiled at him and dug out the fifty cents, placing it on the counter. He blushed. Cute.

The vender took the money and placed it into the cash register before he moved to the machine. He fired it up and Rangiku watched as the sugary mixture began to spin. He took one of the special sticks set off to the side and letter the airy substance wrap around it. Handing the completed treat to her, Ran in turn passed it to Toushirou Hitsugaya.

“Here you go, Captain,” she said, turning back to the vender to hide the snicker she couldn’t suppress. The cotton candy was twice the size of his head, and that was quite an accomplishment. Not to mention that pink was a striking contrast when held so close to that white hair.

Taking her own, she graced the vender with a smile before turning back to the captain. Taking a handful of the sticky candy, she popped it in her mouth before saying, “Let’s take a look at the rides, see if any catches your interest, before we head over to what I wanted you to see.”

'Here you go' indeed. Toushirou blinked at her and at the cotton candy before slowly taking the candy from her. Dear God, it was bigger than his head. How could a person eat that much sugar?

He held it gingerly, considering poking it just because it didn't seem... right... somehow. "Won't catch my interest," he muttered, still staring at the candy.

People ate that much sugar?

Rangiku grandly ignored him. How would he know what caught his interest unless he’d seen what was there? Besides, she wanted some time to eat her cotton candy.

“Well, why don’t we just take a look around and see,” she said cheerfully. “I’d hate for you to miss anything,” she popped another bite of cotton candy into her mouth before eyeing him.

“Aren’t you going to try it?”

He stared at her, unimpressed. What about this could catch his eye or hold his interest? So far, he was less than impressed by it all.

Well, unless he counted the sheer size of this thing of cotton candy. That was impressive.

He sighed and pulled off a piece of the candy - didn't even make a dent in it - and popped it into his mouth. Pure sugar, that's all it was.

She must have been spending too much time around him. She almost understood that silence. It said, clear as anything, that he was not amused and that he thought she had flipped her lid.

Rangiku tore off a shred of cotton candy rather viciously. It was not her fault that the kid did not know how to have fun.

Although, to be fair, she had somewhat suspected that he would react this way. That was partly the reason why she had wanted to take him here. But it wouldn’t be any fun at all if she couldn’t make him smile at least once.

Abandoning her previous plan of exploring the smaller rides, Rangiku began to head towards the Wonder Wheel. “So what did you do for fun in Erie?”

He followed her, swallowing his bite of cotton candy with a grimace. Pure sugar. He liked sweet things, but this might be a little too much for him. (And there was no way in hell he was going to be able to eat it all. It was bigger than his head.)

"I worked in Erie." What did she think he did? Honestly, he couldn't be coming across to her as the partying type. Sometimes, when Granny was alive, he had dinner with her. Sometimes he went to the lake. He didn't need to go seek "fun"; things were fine as they were.

Rangiku blinked at him. He worked. How…fun. “You know, Captain, usually? When I ask someone what they do for fun, ‘work’ is not the thing that comes out of their mouths. Most people view work as the opposite of fun.”

She tore off another piece of cotton candy. “Did anyone else ever tell you that? Did you ever have anyone come in and drag you away from work? What did they make you do?”

The Wonder Wheel was at the back of the park, closest to the beach. They were nearly there. Ran eyed her cotton candy. There was no way she was finishing this before they got to the ride. Maybe she’d be able to talk the vender into letting her take it up with her?

He snorted. He wasn't most people; he knew that. She should learn it. "Had family." Of course he was dragged along on some things; thankfully, though, Granny was a bit of a homebody and Momo would much rather spend her free time home with Granny. He didn't get dragged out for "fun" much, thank God.

He poked at the cotton candy and pulled out another piece. She'd been kind enough to buy it for him; he wasn't going to waste it.

Right. Family. The subject that she wasn’t going to get into. The answer that didn’t really answer her question at all. Well, it didn’t matter. They were nearly there.

“Well, this is what I wanted you to see, Captain. The Wonder Wheel. It’s 150 feet tall and it has a great view.”

Rangiku had a feeling that if she ate any more cotton candy, she’d be sick. She hated to throw it away, but usually she’d have people stealing tufts of hers or be stealing off someone else’s. These things were really huge. With regret, she deposited the remaining half of her candy into a trash bin as she approached the ticket booth.

“Two, please.”

He blinked at the Wonder Wheel. Almost gaped, but somehow managed not to. (The thought of her seeing him, pink blob of candy bigger than his head in one hand and gaping at an amusement ride kept him from it. It wasn't a good image.) She had to be kidding. She had to...

She ordered two tickets for the ride. She wasn't kidding. He looked up, glanced at her and sighed. At least he wasn't scared of heights. And it had a "great view".

Ah, hell. Maybe he'd see the water he'd smelled in the air.

Toushirou hesitated, though, when it came to following her lead with the cotton candy. He'd barely touched it and she'd paid for it. He couldn't just toss it.

Then again, he couldn't carry it around for the rest of the day either.

...great. Everything they'd managed to do today and he was waffling over throwing away sugar.

Giving the man in the booth one more friendly smile, Rangiku turned and walked back over to the Captain. She held out her hand, extending his ticket to him. “Here you go. I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”

He took the ticket with a snort. "I'm not afraid of heights." He hadn't been blinking at the thing because of its height; he'd been blinking at it because she'd brought him to a ferris wheel, of all things.

One with a "great view" at least.

He sighed and, after juggling the cotton candy and the ticket, managed to pull off another piece of the candy. He felt better throwing it away if he ate a little more of it. He took a rather hefty bite, pulled off another piece and tossed the rest in the trash. (He could follow her lead; besides, he could always pay her back the money.)

Rangiku bit back a laugh at his snort. No, of course Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya wasn’t afraid of heights. How would he get anything done if he were?

She smiled at him, “Too sweet? Yeah, it’s awfully hard to eat one of those huge things by yourself.”

The Wonder Wheel was in the middle of a run and a small line had gathered in front of it. Turning, they made there way over to wait. It shouldn’t take too long.

He gave her a Look. (Crazy woman had been garnering a good number of looks in the short time he'd been around her. It had to be a new record. Then again, he doled out a hell of a lot of "you must be an idiot" looks.) If it was that sweet and "awfully hard to eat by yourself", then why had she bought them each one? If she wanted him to try it, she could have bought one for herself and shared.

Apparently this Matsumoto woman wasn't all that logical.

Of course, he didn't have the best track record when it came to associating with logical women. He did call Momo family...

He slid into line behind her, not amused but not running away. He didn't even want to think about making his way back from... wherever they were. And she'd promised to show him the way home after he gave her some time. He was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on that one.

Mostly because it was either that or get lost. He eyed the Wonder Wheel and wondered if it was really worth it.

Then again - he eyed her - she said it had a great view.

Would it kill him to say something? To make a noise of agreement? To do anything other than look at her as if she had lost her mind? The way his brow furrowed with all those wrinkles-like he was some little old man-made her want to poke him square in the forehead.

Rangiku crossed her arms so she didn’t act on the impulse. Hopefully, she’d think of this the next time she wanted to take in a stray. They weren’t always friendly.

She took a breath and closed her eyes, tilting her head back and letting the sea-tinged air caress her face. Even if nothing else worked out, she was glad she’d come down-it was good to escape the skyscrapers for a little while. It was good to see sky.

She opened her eyes and smiled. Besides, she loved this ride. The Wonder Wheel was winding down, and people were disembarking, one cart at a time. “Have you ever been on a Ferris wheel before, Captain?” she asked as they moved forward in the line.

He watched the wheel turn slowly and its passengers disembark with a bit of a sinking feeling. He had been honest when he said he wasn't frightened of heights, but...

Well, hell, amusement park rides with people he'd just met apparently made him a little apprehensive. He sighed softly.

That, and he'd never actually been on a ferris wheel. It always seemed so... ridiculous to him whenever there'd been an opportunity. (Not that there had been many opportunities for it.) "No," he said, glancing toward her - and her smile; why was she smiling so much at him? - and then back toward the Wonder Wheel.

He never thought his afternoon would include an amusement park.

‘No,’ indeed. “No?” Rangiku teased. “Honestly, Captain, unless this is some sort of interrogation technique, you are really going to have to have to work on your communication skills. One syllable answers are going to be…insufficient in some cases.”

The operator opened the door for their blue car, and Rangiku motioned for the Captain to go in ahead of her. “First timers should get the better view.”

Toushirou raised an eyebrow as he stepped past her. He paused, a hand on the door and looked back over his shoulder.

"Got you talking, didn't it?" That was the point of interrogation, was it not? Unless she was suddenly the expert.

He slid into the seat.

Rangiku froze halfway out of the cart. Had he just-a wide smile spread her lips and she didn’t bother keeping back her responding laughter. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet, Captain,” she said, sliding in after him and securing the door behind her.

The wheel began to rotate up just enough for the next cart to load up. “You’ll want to be watching out your right,” Rangiku hinted.

There was always hope for him. In fact, who needed hope? He was fine. He raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head once. Crazy woman. Absolutely crazy.

He turned away and watched out the right side of car, chin resting on his hand as they moved up slowly. It took a few minutes - apparently loading each car took awhile - but he finally saw it.

There was water here. He blinked and sat up. That... that was a lot of water.

Rangiku couldn’t help her gentle smile when she saw the way the Captain sat up at attention. She leaned forward too, so she could see the ocean as well. A familiar sort of awed smallness settled over her heart, and Ran let out a quiet breath. “This is what I was talking about. Everyone should see the ocean from up here at least once,” she said softly.

Toushirou glanced over his shoulder, seeing that gentle smile and not sure what to make of it. It was... strange... to see a look like that on a total stranger.

He glanced back down at the water. All right, so... maybe not a total stranger. She appreciated the ocean. She'd defended him - not that he'd needed it - and that was enough, he supposed, for him to not ignore her completely.

Maybe. She was crazy.

Even if she'd brought him up to see the ocean from here. Maybe it was easier to ignore her and just watch the sun glint off the water.

She didn’t mind his silence. He really couldn’t bother her up here-nothing could-so close to the sky and so close to the sea. But that didn’t mean she felt like she had to keep her enjoyment to herself. “I love it,” she still spoke quietly, “when you look out to the horizon and you can see the sky and the sea meet. They fade into each other and blur and it seems like they stretch on forever. It’s worth the trip to see it again from up here. Thank you for the excuse, Captain.”

The excuse? He blinked once and looked back at her briefly. He hadn't done a thing. She'd been the one to drag him along to wherever she was going. He shook his head once - he'd never understand her, he could already tell - and went back to the view.

She was right. It did go on forever, the sky and the sea blending, meeting at a point he'd probably never reach. He couldn't help but wonder what lay beyond that point; his grandmother had told stories, but stories didn't hold the same weight actual experience did.

Perhaps the Wonder Wheel was actually worth the trip and worth the crazy company. (And the sugar he could still taste.)

The Wheel was starting its descent. There had been days when she had stayed on this ride again and again…but today wasn’t going to be one of those days. “The beach is just a little further down,” Rangiku said as they exited the booth. “We can get up closer, if you want.”

He followed her out of the booth, one last look up at the Wonder Wheel. Briefly, he wondered if Momo would appreciate the view. Then again, she might be so surprised he took her anywhere out of the ordinary, she might have a heart attack on the spot.

He'd have to think about it.

"That way?" he questioned, nodding in the direction he hoped "further down" was.

“That’s right,” Ran said and walked along side him as they approached the boardwalk. She didn’t want to go any further onto the sand in her shoes, so she leaned on the railing with her elbows and stared out at the vast expanse of ocean.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood there, just watching the ocean and listening to the faint echo of the crash of sea on shore, but eventually Rangiku turned to the Captain. “Are you ready to head back? If you feel like staying, I can always give you directions.”

That gut feeling she always listened to was telling her that Toushirou Hitsugaya not only wanted but needed some time alone with the ocean. Hard enough to be uprooted from everything you knew and transplanted into someplace completely different…Manhattan had to be so foreign, so crowded compared to Erie. More than that, he was made captain, he was in charge…

There was nothing like the vastness of the sea to give you some perspective.

Toushirou leaned against the railing next to her, careful to keep a fair distance away. He didn't know her that well. (Perhaps he'd tack a "yet" onto the end of that sentence. She did show him the ocean, after all.) He watched the waves break, glad for her silence. Sometimes, it seemed, she knew when to close her head.

Other times, he was beginning to think those nice instances of silence were only flukes.

He sighed at her question. Leave now? When he just found the ocean? "I'll take directions." He paused, knowing full well she had to have a destination in order to give him said directions, but balking at giving her his address. "Washington Square," he finally said. He could get home from there; it was only a short walk and he really couldn't get lost in his own neighborhood.

He hoped.

Washington Square, huh? And he didn’t know about Llyod’s Chocolatiers? She’d have to fix that. Well, if she ever saw him again. “Sure thing, Captain. You want me to write it down? You got something I could use?”

He didn't say a word; somehow it didn't surprise him that she didn't have anything with write with on her. Then again, not everyone did, and his training practically demanded he have a notepad on him at all times.

He pulled a small notepad and pencil out of his pocket and held it out. Hopefully she wouldn't go flipping through it; he might have still have a few notes from his last case jotted down.

Flipping through the pad until came to a clean page, Rangiku outlined the directions in a clear hand. She paused for a moment deciding which way to tell him to go before deciding to give him the way with the least connections. “If you have any trouble,” she teased as she finished up, “just ask a man in uniform. They should be able to help…well, as long as it’s not a postman. They tend to get cranky.”

She finished writing down The Double Dip’s address a little further down and wrote under it, ‘The best ice cream in town.’

“And if you’re ever interested in taking a real tour,” she continued as she handed the pad and pen back to the Captain, “that’s where you can find me. At the home of New York’s best chocolate malt.”

He gave her withering look as he took the pad and pocketed the pen. "I'll remember that," he said dryly. Ask a man in uniform. Indeed. He never would have thought of that.

Never mind he wouldn't do it. What if word got back the new captain was lost? Dear God, no. It was not happening.

He raised an eyebrow at the address written in the corner. The best ice cream in town, huh? Well... that might be worth the trip.

He wondered if she served banana splits.

Well, that had been fun. Maybe she’d do a little more shopping down in Brooklyn before she returned home. She wasn’t in any rush, she just wanted to let the Captain have his space. After all, it looked he was finally having fun. Although she hadn’t worked a smile out of him yet…

She probably wasn’t going to get it in the next two minutes either. For a second Ran was tempted just to flash him and see what happened, but considering how he had reacted when he had smooshed his face into her chest, she doubted it would get the desired response. Her lips twitched upwards at the thought. After all, it wasn't like she'd ever see him again.

Still, she didn't want to spoil it now that he was finally seeming to relax. She liked the way the corners of his eyes had softened when he was watching the sea, and she didn't think such a newly appointed transfer had much of a chance to relax. Not a bad day's work, even if she did say so herself.

“Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, Captain,” Rangiku said, pulling away from the railing and stepping back. “You take care of yourself.”

He looked up and watched her step away. Quite an afternoon this had been and it had definitely not been close to what he'd expected when he'd gone out shopping. (Or run into rude clerks.)

Momo would be so thrilled. He'd spent an afternoon with someone he didn't know. She'd just grin at him and tease him mercilessly.

Better she didn't know about it, then.

He nodded toward Matsumoto and turned back toward the water. He'd see about one of those chocolate malts sometime soon. After all, he shouldn't miss the best malt the city had to offer.