Of Birthdays and Siblings

Baked Sweets

The first Christmas without Gin was hard to take, but Rangiku focused on the other people in her life that she cared about. One of these people was her small taicho and the other was her best friend Nanao. She felt that the feeling between herself and each of the other two people was mutual when it came to this time of the year.

She was surprised to find her Taicho to be hurting even more then she was the year before, not having told her about how much thinking about the parents who possibly abandoned him hurt. The look in his eyes was painful to see as it was the worst she had seen from him. Rangiku personally felt that he was missing out more by not celebrating.

After decorating a good portion of the tenth division, she headed over to the eighth division. The taicho of the division held up some eggnog that he had somehow precured before the big event and cheerfully smiled at her. "Want to drink Rangiku-chan!"

"I'm actually here to borrow your division's kitchens." The woman headed in the direction.

"Ah... so you're up to something with Nanao." The man let out a laugh.

The woman arrived in the room and looked at the mass amount of ingredients gathered, including the sugar bags from the living world. "How did you ever manage to get sugar for this?"

"I got help from Uktake Taicho. He was more then pleased to help with our little project." The woman pushed up her glasses. "So what treat should we bake for everybody first. You wanted to surprise your taicho with the treats."

"I did... I still do. He's not happy that his birthday is tomorrow." Rangiku felt her motuh suddenly twist up. "He's thinking about how his family abandoned him this time of year."

"Well, he probably didn't think about it or dwell on it like he is this year. Despite the fact he and Hinamori have patched things up, he's still hurting from her betrayal. I mean, has he come to terms that she betrayed him." The woman pulled out a few bowls. "Let's start with the gingerbread cookies, that is always a sure bet and it is very much part of the season."

"I love the Western holidays." Rangiku piped up. "I'm also glad for the new taicho of the fifth division as he gave Momo the ultimatium, she either make up with taicho or lose her position."

"I've heard that whether she stays or not is still in the wind as he may find someone who he's more comfortable with. I'm surprised he hasn't lost it with her already, as I don't remember him being a very patient man."

"He was very patient with Gin though." Rangiku began to measure out the ingredients. Soon, they had a sweets in the oven and a sweet smell filled the kitchen. They continued baking treats and making candies well into the night, not noticing what time it was. An alarm suddenly went off and both women glanced up. "Not now of all times."

"Shouldn't you go see to your taicho? If he's fallen asleep, someone is going to need to wake him up." Nanao let out a deep sigh. "I had better make sure that my taicho is awake, though he is asleep for a different reason."

Rangiku found herself hurrying back towards her division, leaving Nanao take things out of the oven so that the baked goods wouldn't burn while they were taking care of the intruder. She could feel someone moving across Soul Society, as brief spurts showed up where shinigami gathered. The commotion was heading towards her small taicho.

She also thought she felt the ability of a Quincy go off, but brushed it off. She felt her taicho's reiatsu suddenly flare and pushed herself harder in order to come to the small boy's aide. Despite the fact he was skilled, he was still a child and could make some rather rash decisions on his part. Her fear amplified when she felt the Quincy ability go off again.

She found herself heading over the wall and she landed on the ground. Her eyes glanced around and she caught site of her small taicho sprawled on the ground. She hurried over and saw that he wasn't wearing and shoes, and he was simply clad in the under part of the shinigami uniform. His sword was at his side and she found herself glancing around.

As she scooped his small figure into her arms, she noticed that his door had been smashed in. Swallowing, she found herself trying to rub heat into the child's body. She kept rubbing the boy's muscles. Someone else came over the wall. "Matsumoto Fukutiacho?"

"Somebody get forth division. Taicho's out cold." The woman found herself biting back her tongue, realizing that she had unintentionally made a pun. "He's not dressed to be out in this weather, so please hurry. Someone please bring me a blanket."

She could see his icy breath coming up and down. Eventually though a stretcher came and she found herself hurrying along by his side. Upon arriving at the forth division, Unohana greeted them . "We had better start treating him for hypothermia. It looks like his chin is bruised out, so I'll look for other injuries that might have occurred when he fell."

Rangiku found herself fidgeting, pacing back and forth. Unohana finally handed her a cup of hot tea. "Sit down. I don't need you admitted as well."

"What is wrong with him?"

"He's got a nasty bump on the back of his head, bruised ribs and a few other injuries. He's also got hypothermia. I'm surprised he was out fighting in this kind of weather."

"He... I think he didn't wake up when the alarm went off and the intruder crashed right through his bedroom door. That's the only reason I can explain him being dressed the way he is." Rangiku glanced at the ground.

"He's a tough child. He'll be fine." Unohana smiled at her and went to work at healing the boy's shoulder wound. As she felt the rieatsu, she suddenly frowned. "That's strange."

"What is?" The busty female frowned at the forth division taicho.

"The rieatsu from the attacker is missing. But then so is Hitsugaya's taicho in that area. The only time I've felt something like that was..." The woman paused before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. It is likely coincidence.