Ice Cold ~ Toshiro x Reader

17- Can we talk?

"U-Um... Toshiro..."

His heart immediately did a series of backflips hearing you say his name. He flushed, his face heating up incredibly fast. It felt like it had been ages since he last saw you and talked to you, and now you were right in front of him as if nothing had ever happened. He opened his mouth to speak, but the only words that came out were incomprehensible stutters. He cleared his throat.

"Here, come into my office. You can stay there until the rain stops," he offered, not meeting your eyes.

You contemplated shouting, "NO!" and fleeing to Mexico, but dismissed the stupid idea when you realised that there was no Mexico in the soul society. 

"O-Okay," you agreed reluctantly.

You began to follow him in the direction of his office, but his hand didn't leave your wrist the entire time. You tugged at the bottom of your sleeve awkwardly until you finally arrived and he let you go. The tension in the room made you extremely uncomfortable to the point where you didn't know what to do with yourself, so while he made his way behind his desk, you just sat on the couch and stared at the rain outside.

"L/N."

You looked up with a start to see Toshiro in front of you, a folder in hand. He held it out to you and you grabbed it, confused. He didn't offer any explanation and just sat back down at his desk, which irritated you to no end.

"What's this?" you sighed. You wouldn't be surprised if it was transfer papers of some sort. 

"Paperwork. You can do it now or, um, take it home."

You swallowed the lump in your throat, and opened the folder to peer through the work you needed to catch up on. 

"Listen, I... can we talk?" he blurted, making you freeze.

You didn't know how to respond, but the awkward silence was almost too much for you to bear so you just murmured a 'no'.

"Oh." He furrowed his brows in confusion, frowning.

"Taichou... why do you even care?"

He looked at you as if you had just sprouted wings and asked to fly to hell.

"Why wouldn't I? You're my subordinate, and I have been trusted to look after you," he answered plainly. Those words hurt you, even though you knew they shouldn't have. Toshiro seemed to notice you flinch, and he quickly corrected himself.

"I might be more fond of you than I am most of my subordinates," he murmured, looking away.

"Then why?" you questioned pleadingly, tears beginning to build up in your eyes. You blinked them away.

"Why...? What do you mean why?"

"Why say t-those things?"

"You're not making any sense."

You groaned in frustration. "Toshiro, you know what I'm talking about. You called me unreliable and useless. Anyone would be hurt."

"I was... mad," he muttered, not meeting your gaze.

"You told me I was transferring squads," you stated dryly, crossing your arms.

Even when she's mad, her voice is so soft and nice to listen to... But now is not the time, Toshiro.

"I-I didn't expect you would listen. I didn't mean it," he explained, ashamed of himself.

You sighed.

"What's with that?"

"(L/N)... I... before you left, you said something..."

"So... so you mean you know I... l-love you? You mean you don't return the feeling?" you managed to whisper hoarsely as you desperately wrapped your arms around your midsection.
He seemed to pale.
"L-Love? You n-never mentioned that while I was... was... here..."
You were too busy slamming the door to hear anything.