Waterfall Eclipse

Comfort Zone

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Comfort Zone

Rani made her way back to her room to find Chiharu had managed to clean out half of the roses.

"Hey, I'm back."

"Did you beat the ever loving snot out of him?"

"No. If I did that I'd be in a lot of trouble. I had hoped to scream and yell until I lost my voice, but as you can see, I didn't manage to do that either." Rani said as she looked around and then sighed

"Are you not still pissed at all of these roses?"

"No, I am. I am just not as pissed."

"All right. Spill the beans. Why are you so calm? You stormed out of here like no tomorrow."

"I was finally able to talk with him about everything. And I mean sit down like you and I talk. I wasn't nervous."

"Wow. You've come a long way then."

"No kidding. I started out mad. Asked him why he put all these roses in here." She started as she was fiddling with one. "He said, 'It's because I love you'."

"He said that? Oh geez. You really did melt his heart."

"More like I thawed his heart. If I melted it, I think it would currently be a puddle." Rani joked. "Yeah, so he then asked me why I thought I wasn't worthy of being his girlfriend."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't know how to answer at first, but I did say it was because I didn't think I was worthy of being anyone's girlfriend, let alone a captain's."

"HOLY SHIT!"

The girls, startled, turned to see Umeko in the doorway.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Rani, I don't know what you did, but the captain just gave everyone the afternoon off. I didn't count because I just got back from leave, but everyone in Squad Ten is talking about it."

"Uh..."

"And what is with all of these roses?"

"Captain Hitsugaya did this, and all because he loves her." Chiharu stated with a grin.

"Want to help get them out of here? It's too much for me."

"Sure. Where are we putting them?"

"Around the barracks, as per Captain Kuchiki."

"Captain Kuchiki?" Rani questioned.

"Yeah, I didn't get a chance to tell you. Ten minutes after you left, he came by and wondered what was with all of these flowers. I told him you had an obsessive admirer. He asked if I knew who it was, but I refused to tell him who. He changed his mind on wanting to know and told me to have us put it around the barracks."

"No wonder he smiled when I asked if Hitsugaya could watch my training session tomorrow."

"Wait? You asked that? Why?"

"Taki Nisshoku wants to battle Hyorinmaru eventually. He asked what my Shikai was and I invited him to see tomorrow as long as the captain agreed, which he did. Damn, I need to tell Captain Hitsugaya."

"I'll deliver the message later for you." Umeko offered. "Now let's clean up your room."

"Agreed." Rani and Chiharu replied simultaneously.

Two hours later, the roses were randomly placed throughout Squad Six and the girls were back in the room hanging out and laughing.

"Okay, so you went over there to yell at him, but you failed?"

"Yeah, miserably. I think he was surprised at how mad I was. He even said I looked scary when pissed off."

"Well, you can get pretty terrifying."

"Thanks Chiharu." Rani said sarcastically. "What friends you are."

"Well, we could always get you drunk on sake." Umeko teased.

"Or we could get you drunk on it." Rani shot back. "You're a laugh riot."

"Touché."

"So what do you girls want to do? Should we go get Kiyomi for dinner?" Chiharu asked and then someone knocked on the door causing all three girls to turn around. "Kiyomi! Were your ears ringing?"

"No, why?"

"We were trying to decide if we should go get you so we can go out to eat for dinner."

"Oh, well, Lieutenant Hinamori asked me to come get you three. She wants us to join her at the restaurant for dinner."

"Oh? Did she say why?"

"No, just that she's missed us for the past week. She has a lot she wants to tell us regarding Captain Hitsugaya." She replied. The three then started to laugh. "What?"

"Oh, dear do we have something to tell you, and possibly Lieutenant Hinamori." Umeko answered.

The four made their way to the restaurant where they met up with the lieutenant, who had already made arrangements for a private setting.

"Hello lieutenant." Rani greeted.

"Hello girls! Glad you could make it."

Rani sat down across from the lieutenant and the others followed in to the open seats.

"So, I was pretty vague with Kiyomi, but I wanted to talk about Captain Hitsugaya, Rani. And before you start, you girls can call me Momo from now on, outside of official business and in the barracks, of course." She quickly stated. "So, I was talking to Shiro the night before you guys left. Rani, you actually turned him down?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't immediately reply to his letter. Right before I went to see him that night, he had given a note to Umeko asking I see him before we left on leave."

"I'll tell you he was upset. I've seen him sad before, and upset, but that topped it. I've never seen him drink so much."

"For some reason I can't imagine Captain Hitsugaya drunk." Umeko joked. "What was that like?"

"Not pretty. I heard he was miserable the next morning to everyone. You wouldn't know, Umeko, because you had left."

"She also got a bit drunk that night." Chiharu blabbed. "In the midst of our dinner, the funny part was she managed to order that Rani not fall in love with Captain Kuchiki."

"And why was that funny?" The lieutenant asked confused.

"Well, let's just say Captain Kuchiki was standing behind her, so he heard it. Poor Rani turned beet red from holding in her laughter as she sunk down." Kiyomi finished. "Chiharu and I were buzzed so we tried to hold in our laughter at the expense of Rani and Umeko."

"Oh dear. You girls sure find easy ways of embarrassing each other."

"It comes with the territory of always hanging out. We tend to learn things about each other." Rani replied.

"Yeah, like Rani talks in her sleep after she's drunk from sake. Rum, not so much." Chiharu added.

"And we know what each other's comfort zones are." Kiyomi started. "For example, although Rani looks smoking hot in a bikini, she's very self-conscious about her sexy curves."