Steam clung to the rim of the cup as tiny snowflake patterns clung to its surface, each one shaped differently beneath its frost. White mist curled into the air from its brim, thick as sublimating dry ice and almost mesmerizing to the eye.
"Give it a try."
Matsumoto Rangiku's eyes widened when she saw what had happened to the glass. She stared without blinking, appetite and wonder fighting for space in her expression. Reaching for the cup, her fingers met the frost almost instantly. The icy surface bit at her skin and glued itself to her hand-the sweat on her palm freezing solid in seconds.
"How cold does this have to be...?"
She hesitated. Her lips parted in doubt, then sealed again as she tried to shake it. "Are you afraid?"
"Who... who's afraid?" Matsumoto said with false composure. "I'll drink it and show you." She raised the cup and drank.
Ice spread down her throat like needles. The chill stabbed straight into her bones. Yet almost instantly after, a wave of heat burned its way through her gut. Her body responded before her thoughts could catch up - her soul flickered at the clash of flame and frost inside her chest. She felt every nerve tighten and recoil from it.
Seconds later, Matsumoto toppled into Yuta's shoulder, her body slack with alcohol and breath humid against his neck.
Her weight sank into him as golden curls tickled the side of his throat and filled his nose with her scent. The necklace resting below his collar slipped loose from its clasp and swayed slightly under the light above them.
"What? Matsumoto got drunk off one drink?"
Hinamori Momo's brows lifted in surprise as she watched. She knew for a fact how much Matsumoto could handle-and heard the same secondhand from practically every squad in Seireitei. Some joked she could treat liquor like water-even the strongest brew barely left her flushed. So how could one drink knock her out?
"What did you do? Why did the wine change?"
"You could call it magic," Yuta said calmly.
Momo's mouth tilted in curiosity. She'd read enough to know what magicians were capable of-their illusions always bordering between genius and trickery.
"Can I have a taste?"
She eyed the glass in Yuta's hand, which glittered with crystal edges under the room's light like it had been carved from ice itself.
"There's no reason you can't," Yuta answered with a low rasp that carried easily to her ears.
Hinamori took the cup between both hands. Even before it reached her lips, the cold seeped into her face and made her flinch slightly. It felt dangerous-but fascinating.
She sipped.
The cold invaded deep-a crawling freeze that slithered into her bones until she wanted to curl up where she stood. Her body jerked with goosebumps and her shoulders shook twice as she shut her eyes tight against it. Her breath caught until-
Warmth bloomed at her core. It pooled inside her in gentle pulses and refused to fade. It spread upward through her stomach toward her ribs in lazy waves of heat that lingered long after she opened her eyes again.
"This wine... how is it doing this...?" she whispered aloud, barely able to believe her own words.
Before anyone could respond, fatigue wrapped around her limbs and pulled at her spine. She slumped forward, face landing softly on the cold wooden table as sleep overtook her.
Yuta poured himself another glass and tipped the contents back slowly before setting it down again beside him. He rose with one arm under Matsumoto and one beneath Momo's knees as he carried both girls back toward the small building he'd rented not far from the academy's compound.
He opened one of the rooms on the first floor and slipped Momo inside gently onto the bed, removed her shoes and socks, and tucked the quilt around her tightly. She curled under the covers until only half her face peeked out from the warm bundle of blankets.
He pulled the door closed behind him before moving across to the other room, Matsumoto heavier in his arms by comparison. When he set her on the mattress, its springs creaked beneath her weight and bounced gently in response. He covered her too without hesitation, watching how easily the curves of her body showed through the blanket's folds where they rose around her chest and hips.
Once both rooms were shut and darkened, Yuta walked back out to the small couch near the corner of the windowed wall. He dropped himself onto its cushion and dipped his feet into warm water prepared earlier inside a shallow basin.
Today hadn't been bad.
He'd finished every basic Kidō lesson Shino Academy offered. Intermediate spells came next-even some advanced ones weren't far off now. He needed to deepen his understanding of Hado and Zanjutsu next... Shunpo too would be crucial before graduation.
Sooner or later, he'd request early release from training entirely-and then he'd choose which division he wanted most after that.
Unohana Retsu's Fourth... Matsumoto's Tenth... perhaps Rukia Kuchiki's Thirteenth?
It might not matter.
For someone like him, learning came quickly no matter where he stood. Only one thing gnawed at him behind everything else:
When would Sosuke start?
Was it a year from now? Months? Days?
If Soul Society took too long to become interesting, he might regret committing any time at all to its structure or rules.
The water in his basin had long gone cold by now. He dried his feet off without rush, dumped what remained of the basin into the sink beside the wall, then made his way upstairs to one of the empty rooms near the hall window.
His sword rested on its stand near the door where he left it earlier. He stripped down slowly until only his skin met air again-and when he pulled off the uniform top, something small fell onto the bed with a dull flop sound.
He picked up Chappy-the plush doll Rukia had given him a day ago and placed it next to his pillow on instinct before sliding under his own blanket.
He didn't think before sleep came.
…
Matsumoto stared up at the ceiling when she woke up in silence with a clear head and no pain dragging behind it. The quilt across her chest was thick and warm-it wrapped around her body with weight but comfort too-and she had no desire to move from that spot at all. Sunlight spilled in through slats above the bed across one arm where it rested outside the sheets.
Her bare feet shifted slowly beneath those covers as they brushed against warmth-not socks or shoes, but someone else's blankets folded carefully at the end of the bed.
She recognized where she was after taking another look around: Yuta's rental house-from days ago when they first walked past it together after class ended early in town.
He must've brought her home after noticing she passed out...
She smiled slowly but couldn't find words for why she felt so content right now with that simple thought alone.
From beyond the wall came a small yelp of surprise-the kind someone makes when waking up somewhere unfamiliar and realizing they weren't alone anymore either.
Rangiku chuckled softly without thinking about it too much as she pushed herself upright and placed both feet into orange slippers waiting below the bed frame before heading toward that other room down the hall.
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