Cold Wave (Bleach Lovestory)

Chapter 1 - Paperwork

"T-Taicho! S-Stop it...", the flustered girl gripped the paperwork even tighter to her chest.
"What's wrong, Mami-chan? I thought you enjoyed paying the 10th Division a visit now and then", a light chuckle escaped the 8th Division Captain. He clearly had too much fun teasing his 4th Leutnant, Tamami Hoseki, about her crush on a certain white-haired short male.
"Kyoraku-san, go easy on her", Captain Ukitake gave his best defending her, but no one could stop Kyoraku.

All Tamami could do was hiding her blushing face behind the bundle of paper and trying to calm down while the room was filled with a warm laughter. She wasn't angry at her Captain, he only tried to give her some confidence.
It never really helped though, her so called 'awkwardness' always got in the way. A loud sigh escaped her lips.

"I guess... I'll be going now."
"Yes, yes~ My greetings to him."
"Oh, and Hoseki-san! Please give Hitsugaya-taicho this little gift from me. He'll like it for sure~", Captain Ukitake handed her a small little bag and she glanced at it with a small smile. Of course, when was there a time for no sweets for Captain Hitsugaya.
"I'll make sure he gets it safely."
"Thank you!", and with a last nod from the black-haired girl, the two men were left alone drinking, bickering about this and that.

As she made her way over to the 10th Division, her thoughts were occupied like always. She always wondered if Hitsugaya also saw her as a friend.
Sure, she was almost all the time the one to handle the paperwork between the 8th and 10th Division, but she secretly hoped he didn't just think that was the only reason of her visits.
How long did they know each other by now? Longer than she actually thought. She spoke to him a few times back in the academy, he often sat or learned by himself. Before she knew it though, he zoomed past her in all degrees with the best grades and even became Captain at such a young age! That was something she could only dream about.
The words of her Captain rang through her ears: "There are three positions open for a Captain's rank. It never hurts to try... And people will be surprised at our little secret~"
Their little secret... She had trained hours, months, years... without breaks just to come her dream a little bit closer:
Bankai.

Yumiko glanced at her zanpaktou which was on her back due to her height. She had been so proud back then, now it seemed like ages she last used it. Maybe... she should give it a shot after all...

A friendly and loud "Yahoo!~" from a certain orange big-busted woman caught her attention.
"Ah, Matsumoto-fukutaicho..."
"How often have I told you to simply call me Rangiku? Come on, Mami-chan, lighten up!~", Rangiku pat her back and opened the door for her. She already knew who she needed to see.
"Taichoo~ Look who's here again!~", Tamami was practically shoved into the Captain's office and greeted with the same sight like always. Captain Hitsugaya was sitting at his desk, filling out paperwork, a hot cup of tea next to him. It was rare seeing him do anything else in his office.

"Ah, Hoseki like always. Just put the paperwork on Matsumoto's desk", he only gave her a quick glance, nodding towards his Vice-Captain's already piled up desk.
"Whaaat? No fair Taicho! I was about to meet up with Kira to-"
"Get drunk and neglect your job like you always do? I don't think so", he glared at her, the air around him seemingly starting to burn with his anger.
"N-no, no, that's not... we didn't want to- I-I mean...", Matsumoto couldn't even find one excuse, starting to sweat nervously. With a quick look over her shoulder she spotted Tamami still standing there, not at all phased by the scene in front of her. She was used to it by now and already knew what would probably come next.
"Tamami, what a coincidence! You're still here and not busy? Great~", the smaller girl was yanked by her arm to Matsumoto's desk and automatically sat down. The orange-haired woman clapped her hands together satisfied and waved to her Captain.
"Problem solved, see you!~", and she was gone.
"MATSUMOTO!!"

The air around the two shinigamis was heavy. Hitsugaya was mad and stressed like always and Tamami didn't want to anger him even more so she kept silent. After she heard him groan and sigh loudly, she removed her zanpaktou and leant it against the wall next to her. Her hand quickly grabbed the first paper of the big stack together with a pen and she began working.

"You don't always have to do her work, Hoseki...", his voice sounded annoyed and she looked at him, worried that she upset him after all, only to meet a pair of concerned turquoise eyes watching her.
"O-oh, um... There is no need to worry, Hitsugaya-taicho... I haven't planned anything so it will be alright. And it seems like you could use some help", her eyes wandered from her pile to his own. Sure, he was a hard worker, but because of Matsumoto Captain Hitsugaya always had the double amount of work.
Deciding he couldn't argue with that, another sigh filled the room and he continued with his work. She smiled lightly to herself and did the same.
Even if she wasn't able to confront her feelings head on, at least she could spend some time with him.

*Timeskip*

A yawn escaped Tamami's lips and she blushed, covering her mouth. No wonder why Matsumoto always ditched her paperwork, it was the same old boring paperwork like always. Still, it wasn't fair of her to do that, her Captain needed breaks too from time to time.
That reminded her, she had been so focused on working, she wondered how far Captain Hitsugaya got.
Her eyes slowly wandered over to his desk, but they only found the Captain asleep. His head was propped up by his left hand, the right one still holding the pen.
The room was suddenly filled with a relaxed atmosphere and the exhausted Leutnant took this as the cue for a break.

The soft breathing from the short male made her shiver. She had never seen him this... vulnerable before. She made a mental note to not mention any of this to him, he would surely be unpleased thinking all she did was watching him sleep. He wouldn't even be all that wrong...
Tamami shook her head, this was no time to get distracted! She concentrated back on her work, no more breaks, she wanted to get this done before he woke up again.
And what a waste of two hours that was... but totally worth it! At least, that was what she told herself...

Leaving the last few papers on his desk, Tamami got lost in her thoughts: "What am I even doing here? Just because of a stupid crush... as if a little bit of work could solve that problem... So what, I talked to him a few times way back and now I'm doing his Vice-Captain's work... This is ridiculous...", she had a hard time getting all of that in her head, "This isn't some cliché lovestory were things suddenly change and I end up with the love of my life and live happily ever after... right?"
The black-haired shinigami scrached her head in frustration. One man shouldn't give her such headaches...

Moving back into reality, she grabbed her zanpaktou, put a blanket over the sleeping Captain and made sure to leave Captain Ukitake's gift in Hitsugaya's eyesight. With one last glance at the quiet office, she left.

"I need a break..."