Rangiku stretched out on the sofa in her Captain's office, discreetly taking sips of the sake she had stashed under the furniture while Toshiro Hitsugaya sat at his desk doing the tenth division paperwork.

"Rangiku."

Hmm. Perhaps he wasn't so easily fooled. Rangiku reasoned that maybe she wasn't being convincing enough in her role of a sleeping person.

The idle Lieutenant let out a small snore, hoping it would be realistic enough to convince Captain Hitsugaya that she was asleep, but she neglected to factor in that she was essentially breathing through a mouthful of sake and abruptly sat up spluttering.

"Yes, Captain?" she asked, turning around and feigning innocence the best she could.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow, looking up from his paperwork. "I just thought I should inform you that I could smell alcohol from across the room."

"Oh, that," Rangiku said breezily, waving her hand in dismissal. "Y-yeah. Would you like some, Captain?"

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and returned to his paperwork. "No, thank you, Rangiku, I have more important things to attend to. So do you, come to mention it."

Rangiku frowned, her Captain's implied order flying straight over her head. "You know, now I think about it, I've never actually seen you drunk, Captain."

"That's because I've never been drunk," Toshiru muttered, not even bothering to look up from the piece of paper he was signing.

Rangiku's eyes widened to the size of saucers and her mouth fell open, before she adopted a catlike grin and rushed over to Toshiro's desk. "What?! You can't be serious! You've never experienced the wonder and joy of inebriation? We must fix this!"

"Absolutely not," Toshiro said quickly, glancing up in annoyance. "What joy could there possibly be in sacrificing one's total control of themselves voluntarily and making a fool of oneself needlessly?"

"Ah," Rangiku said, tapping her nose. "That's something you'll never know until you've experienced it yourself. It's fun, trust me!"

Toshiro took a sip of water from a mug on his desk before turning around and briefly rummaging through a drawer behind him. "I'm sure you won't take it personally if I choose not to," he said coolly, dumping the stack of paper which was already on his desk into a box on the floor.

"Oh, okay then," Rangiku said, waiting until Toshiro's back was turned again before quickly emptying a generous measure of sake into his mug of water. However, before Toshiro turned back around to face his Lieutenant, he paused at the sight of the potted plant Momo had brought him for his birthday, which Rangiku had christened 'Kaori' and eagerly placed on the set of drawers behind his desk.

"Doesn't Kaori look thirsty to you, Rangiku?" he asked innocuously, finally turning back around and smiling slightly at his Lieutenant.

Rangiku stood to attention. "You're absolutely right, Captain Hitsugaya. Why don't I go and get some water for her?"

"No need," Toshiro said, his smile widening and exposing his incisors. "I have some right here which I don't want." With that, Toshiro seized his mug and dumped the contents into Kaori's pot. "Remember, Rangiku, there's a reason why I'm a Captain," he said, the smile never once leaving his face.

"Right you are, Captain," Rangiku said, scowling slightly as she skulked back to her sofa.