Ice Cold ~ Toshiro x Reader

22- Harribel's Fraccion

Gahh I'm so sorry for the wait ;w; I'll give you guys two chapters to make up for it.

"My, my... such stiff shoulders. You can feel it when you're with Yama-jii, and he gets all fired up."

"Yeah, no kidding. After we wrap this up, how about the two of us give him his first shoulder massage in years?"

"No, no, it's my shoulders that are stiff."

"What are you talking about? I've never once seen you with stiff shoulders,"

You swallowed at their calm banter, your grip on your sword getting a little shaky.

I might be strong or whatever, but I've had no experience against a real enemy. I haven't felt the pain of being cut. I hope I can help Rangiku, at least a little...

"Here we go... Matsumoto, (L/N). Do you feel uneasy?"

You were about to nod stupidly, but turned to Rangiku instead.

"What are you talking about?" she asked calmly and simply. It was a clear 'no'. Your Captain glanced over at both of you for a split second, before shaking his head.

"Let's go. Don't lose your focus!"

"Yes sir! We'll take care of these three, you get the espada in the back!"

"...Can you handle them?"

"Yes," you both answered in unison. You felt confident with her by your side-- It was just something strangely maternal about her that made you feel so at ease.

"...Alright, I'll leave it to you."

As you finally turned away from him, one of the Arrancar sprung into action.

"Like hell I'm gonna let you go!"

Just as they began moving, the dark-skinned blonde Espada spoke up.

"Wait."

The arrancar immediately stood back. Your Captain and the Espada locked eyes and began to pull their swords out. You gulped.

I shouldn't be worrying. He's a Captain.

Immediately, you pulled out your sword to meet one of the Espada's fraccion. As if in sync, you heard many others clash all around you.

"Bastard! How dare he swing his sword at Halibel-sama?!"

"Wait, Apache! Do it later!"

"What was that, Mira Rose?! Are you saying that it's okay for that little brat to hurt Halibel-sama?!"

You glared at her for the 'little brat' comment. It had gotten to the point when you were just as offended as your Captain when they made comments about his height... which was sort of ironic, seeing as you poked fun at him about it all the time.

"Fool. She's drawn her sword. That white-haired kid has no chance of winning anyhow. I'm saying that, if you want to back her up, then you should mop up these girls quickly and then go."

"...Yeah, now that you mention it... that big-breasted girl, she said something about the both of them handling the three of us, didn't she?"

"Wow, your ears are better than I thought," Rangiku chided. "I was thinking to myself, 'Are her ears, her face, and her style all awful?"

You turned to grin at her.

Good idea... she seemed hot-headed, so making her mad would probably be our best bet.

"THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"It's a taunt. Quit getting baited all the time, it's getting to be a pain."