Admiration (Bleach Fanfic)

Matsumoto's Kitten

The day was one of those days, one where a soft breeze blew through soul society, where the sun beat down on ones skin, warming it and causing one to wish to sleep, napping the day away Also, the smell of the Spring air made for such refreshment of the senses, many people had problems not being lazy.

Due to this, captain Isshin, who had his subordinates refer to him by his first name, not last, and his Lieutenant Tomo Atsuo were in no way surprised that their third seat had in fact not come in to work that day. It was a bad habit of hers to spend nice days like this in places away from the office.

While it could be easily stated that Matsumoto Rangiku was a lazy person, she had what mattered in her heart and on the battle field. However, everyone in the tenth division knew that she had the tendency to shirk the paperwork. Many had placed the bet that if she had to ever get a job outside the Gotei Thirteen, she would not last a day.

Normally this laziness and tendency to disappear was no problem, but no one had seen her the night before, which meant she had spent the time away from the division since noon the day before. It was now over twenty-four hours since anyone had seen her, making it prudent that they find her, as to make sure no harm had befallen her.

Isshin was about to send a hell butterfly to his third seat, and also to her childhood friend, the newly appointed captain of the third division. The young man had the knack of almost always knowing where she was, even though she had problems finding him. However, before one butterfly could be sent off, a silvery head stuck itself around the door jamb, giving off its trade mark smile.

"Captain Isshin-san… have you seen Ran-chan? I haven't seen her since two days ago. She isn't mad at me again, is she?"

"Ahh, Gin-kun, I was just about to send a hell butterfly to ask you the same thing," the man smiled, intelligence in his eyes, not to mention a streak of mischievousness that mirrored the younger captains. He indicated for him to take a seat so that they could have a chance to talk.

Ichimaru Gin sat down, his body slightly tense from the familiarity that the captain had used with him. He had known the captain for quite some time now, so it shouldn't have concerned him that the man used such lax of formal etiquette. Plus, it wasn't in Isshin's personality to be anything but informal. The only thing that Gin could think of to explain this off was that this was the same as what he did, except this was done for the exact opposite effect.

"That wasn't the only reason I came though… I was wondering why you volunteered to be part of the captaincy testing?" the young man tilted his head with curiosity.

"Ahh… that," Isshin set the brush he was using down. "Do I need any other reason except for the fact that you've been a good friend of Ran-chan's?"

"That is a nice reason, but one really didn't know if I was the right person for the job," the fox-faced taicho smiled.

"Ahh, well, Rangiku is not the only one who rather knows you, though I say that she and Aizen have had a much longer time to get to know you. I think personally from what I've seen, how you care for Ran-chan, you would make a great captain," the second command suddenly smirked, speaking up for his captain.

"Speaking of Ran-chan… "Isshin suddenly smirked. "She still hasn't learned to mask her reiatsu!"

At this statement, Isshin suddenly moved towards the doorway, hiding himself from view. Atsuo shook his head at his captain's actions, knowing that only certain kinds of results would occur when this scenario happened. "What is the point of masking ones reiatsu when we are supposed to be allies?"

"Good practice for when hollows are around," the goat bearded man laughed.

"Says the man who has everyone call him by his first name instead of last," the lieutenant muttered under his breath as Isshin moved his finger to his lips for the two others to be quite.