青い 閃光

She considers going slack in that moment, but he lifts her so effortlessly she doubts that’ll make it any harder for him to hold onto her. Ugh, curse being small. She does it anyways, hopefully her flopping over like a puppet in in his arms will at least be annoying. Never doubt her petulant ways. 

“Yes it is!” she grumbles, “put me down!” her arms dangle, Ryuuga’s neck mercifully released. She could get out of it, truly, if she wanted to with some maneuver, yet she seems to concede defeat. 

Feeling her go completely slack, Ryuuga’s lips twitch as he suppresses a smile. It’s almost comical how often their little ‘spats’ end up this way, with her flopping bonelessly in his arms. Not that it was a bother, she was small enough that her natural body weight was of no consequence to him. He could carry her like this the entire day and still not be bothered by it. Not that he’d tell her that. She might take to perching on his shoulder the way Yachiru did for Kenpachi.

Well it’s been decided. Umeshu it is. Seafood and beef. And she promptly tells the waitress, along with their order of food. It has been such a long time since she’s had any and with the days getting warmer she more frequently craves the sweet, refreshing drink. So yes, there will be umeshu to have tonight. 

Surely she will handle her liquor better, she tells herself. There will be much to be eaten, a sponge for the alcohol. She’ll drink it slowly, so it doesn’t hit to quickly. Right? 

“Maa, we shouldn’t waste our time worrying about what calamity will come next in times of peace.” There was something to be said for preparedness, but she couldn’t help but thinking it was so ironically unfortunate to be anxious over the next doomsday that good times simply pass one by.  “Don’t get all doom and gloom on me, now~”

He really shouldn’t keep such a negative outlook on things. Waiting for some undetermined disaster that may or may not even happen is hardly a good way to live one’s life. It was just hard to turn off that ‘switch’ inside his head, after having gone a century nary a conflict to one conflict after the next. He likely just needed some time to settle down, that’s all.

Part of him wonders if he should caution Miki against drinking too much, but on the other hand she is a Captain. Surely she knows her own limits by now.

“Oh?? Maybe I ought to deadhead you like I did these flowers.” She makes a jump, hooking her arm around his neck and tugging him down, down, down into a head lock. Tall people everywhere would groan at the sight. Not that she cares, Ryuuga’s head pressed snugly against the side of her chest. He’s not going anywhere. 

“Say you’re sorry!” 

     “-hrk!”

He probably should have seen this coming. Miki had always been a sore loser, and now it was his lower back that would pay the price. Not that he was so out of shape something like this would actually hurt him. Ryuuga grunts as he’s practically folded in half thanks to their height difference. Hrm, how to get out of this one...? Ah, that’ll do. One arm moves down to rest below her knees while the other moves to her waist as the Lieutenant scoops his Captain up into a bridal carry and straightens out, despite remaining thoroughly headlocked.

     “Of course, Hitsugaya-taichou. I’ll be sure Fuyuno-taichou gets these on time. Thank you for bringing them to me.”

She immediately balks at him, “Ryuuga!! That’s so cruel! I am never that mean to you.” 

“They were in my pocket and I forgot about them until I put my hands back in. Thought it was funny~” 

     “I see.”

He did not see. But after taking stock of the handful of dead flowers, he takes the most dead and wilted one and carefully tucks it behind Miki’s left ear. Two could play that game.

                    ❝Oh I certainly wouldn’t CRAFT with it. I’d find something far more ENTERTAINING to do.❞

     “What you do with the confetti and glitter is, of course, your own prerogative.” 

Puts a bunch of wilted and dead flower heads in his hand.

     “. . .”

❝How do I know this isn’t some sorta set up, Glasses-san?❞

CAN THEY USE CHOPSTICKS - Yes, and with both hands equally well at that.  WHAT DO THEY DO WHEN THEY CAN’T SLEEP - On nights where sleep seems to elude him, Ryuuga often spends his time meditating, though on occasion he’ll enter his Inner World to converse with Nadegiri. WHAT WOULD THEY IMPULSE BUY AT THE GROCERY STORE - Tea. So many different varieties and flavors of tea. He has well over one hundred boxes of tea in just his office alone, most of which he’s only had a single serving of. WHAT ORDER DO THEY WASH THINGS IN THE SHOWER - He works from the top down, starting with shampooing his hair, then washing his face, shoulders and onwards ‘til he’s thoroughly cleaned. WHAT’S THEIR COFFEE ORDER - Ryuuga really doesn’t drink much coffee, given his overwhelming preference for tea. But when he has it, he’ll have a simple cup of coffee with a single spoonful of sugar and a bit of cream. WHAT SORT OF APPS WOULD THEY HAVE ON THEIR SMARTPHONE -  Bold of you to assume he wouldn’t use a flip phone for as long as possible. But in keeping with the question, it’d be the default pre-installed apps and maybe a more detailed note-taking app. HOW DO THEY ACT AROUND CHILDREN - A lot of his stern demeanor fades away when he’s around children. He acts like an older uncle figure in most cases; doting and happy to be something of a human jungle-gym for young children, though he’s very stern if they’re misbehaving. WHAT WOULD THEY WATCH ON TV WHEN THEY’RE BORED AND NOTHING THEY REALLY LIKE IS ON - He’s a sucker for ‘boring’ shows like How It’s Made. He is absolutely fascinated with the intricate machinery that humans use for mass production and loves learning about that sort of stuff.

She nods in agreement, dropping comfortably into her seat, hands already clasping around the steaming tea cup that sits waiting for her. “Sukiyaki does sound good…wouldn’t mind some oden, too. Shall we get both~?” she asks, even though she knows they will end up ordering more than one thing. 

She chuckles when he asks her how her day went. It’s just funny to hear him switch on a dime, the moment they’re out of the 8th’s compound. He always does this, despite her calling him “Ryuuga” regardless of where they are. Captain’s privileges, maybe. Though she did call him “Hidai-san” in the beginning, that was neither here nor there. 

Miki deliberates briefly over the menu, despite knowing it well enough by heart. Couldn’t hurt to get a few side dishes. She hums, placing a hand on her cheek in thought, “do I want umeshu…?” she does, but she never holds her liquor well. It is Friday, so she does have the luxury of no early wake up.  

“We may as well get both. We’re bound to eat it all regardless, so I don’t see the harm.” The two frequented this place often enough that he knew they’d eat multiple orders without any issue. They always did, one way or another.

     “Umeshu, hm? It’s been quite some time, so I suppose there’s no reason we can’t.” Neither of them drank alcohol too frequently. It was something generally reserved for special occasions, but indulging once in a while isn’t the end of the world. And it is Friday, so it’s not as if she’d need to be up early in the morning. It was always amusing to him how poorly she handled her liquor. All the power of a Captain, but it only took a few drinks for her to be quite thoroughly tipsy, if not outright drunk.

She lifted a brow at that. “Well, the system I left in place at Eight SHOULD be keeping you relatively relaxed. If anything you should have less paperwork, since fewer forms require Lieutenant approval. Hm, I wonder if Eigth is due for an Audit….” She murmured, frowning a little as the notion that her squad was already showing signs of decline started to worry her. Perhaps she should have a conversation with Captain Fuyuno.

She does however lift a brow slightly at the man. “Not as often. He’s stepped up into his new role. Begrudgingly, he has come to behave a lot more to the standard of his position. After all, he greatly respected Commander Genryusai. So it’s actually been much easier to manage him.”

     “I don’t think an Audit is necessary, it’s simply a matter of getting into the flow of things.” Most of the extra paperwork was brought about following the reinstatement of the Central 46, as well as the aftermath of the Quincy Invasion. Once he worked through the backlog things should flow smoothly in accordance with the system she’d set in place during her time as Lieutenant.

     “....ah, Matsumoto-fukutaichou. I don’t see you around the Hachibantai very often. Was there something you needed help with?”

She blinks, briefly surprised by the voice. Ah, it was dat boi. 

“Ah, Lieutenant Hidai, it’s been quite a while. Adjusting well to the new position I hope?” She asked calmly enough, her head canting to the side. She remembered bits and pieces of him back in the day. He always did seem to take a liking to how she did things. It was a little weird honestly, but she said nothing to that effect. A bit ironic considering how…..different his relationship to his Captain was to hers. 

     “I’m adjusting well enough, I suppose. I could do without the extra paperwork, but we all have to make small sacrifices.”

Though it’s not like the paperwork was killing him any, it was just a little bit more than he’d dealt with as a Third Seat. Thankfully, he’d always been diligent with his paperwork so he was managing well enough.

     “Ah, Ise-fukutaichou. I trust you’ve been well?”