Authors' Note:

You won't believe how hard it is to find a good monologue for Edward. Most of them are like three words.

Yeah! Seriously, we had to search for AGES, and then suddenly there were about 5 all in one go. Wth?

Mmm. Anyway, here we are, finally with another chapter! After about three weeks... but we're off school for the next week now so maybe we'll be able to write another chapter to make up for it.

Yep! Anyway, thanks again to everyone that reviewed... Hey, wait a sec, I haven't said anything particularly crazy yet... Hmmm...

It's okay, you don't need to. Let's just get on with the chapter - and yes, thanks from me too to all reviewers! You're totally awesome! And so is anyone who reviews this chapter too... XD

:) Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Compulsory

Momo put down her pen with a satisfied sigh, stretching her arms with a stifled yawn.

"And that's the last one," she turned to her Taichou sitting beside her at the Judges' Desk. He smiled warmly back and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, what do you think then?" he asked, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

Momo picked up the enormous pile of papers in front of her. "Hmm . . . we've certainly got a lot of brilliant female actors . . ." she mused, flicking through her notes. Then her eyes widened and she gasped. "No, wait a minute!" She stared down at the papers in horror. "No . . . it can't be . . ."

Aizen raised a concerned eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Hinamori-kun?"

"Yes!" she looked at him, appalled. "We only had two male candidates, and one of them was Yumichika!"

"Oh," Aizen said. "I see."

Momo pulled at her hair in anguish. "What can we do? At the very least, we need an Edward, but there's absolutely no way Yumichika can be him."

"What about Gin, then?" Aizen asked. "He was good. Very good."

Momo shot him a distasteful look. "There's absolutely no way I'm casting Gin as Edward either. Not with his completely disrespectful attitude." She shuddered disapprovingly.

"So what are you going to do then?" Aizen half-glanced down at his notes (not that he'd actually written anything constructive). Momo's eyes suddenly lit up.

"I know!" she cried, turning to pleadingly face Hitsugaya, who was still standing slouched in the corner. "Shiro-chan, do you think you would . . . ?"

"No."

Momo pouted a little. "Pleeeeeeaaase, Shiro-chan?"

"No way in hell."

Aizen coughed, trying to hide his amusement. "Hinamori-kun? I have an idea."

"Oh, do you, Aizen Taichou?" Momo asked eagerly.

"Yes," Aizen nodded. "How about we ask the Sou-Taichou what to do? I mean, it was his idea to hold an event to bring all the squads together in the first place."

"That's a great idea, Taichou!" Momo clasped her hands in delight, jumping out of her seat. "So whilst you go do that, I'll see if I can persuade Kira-kun and Abarai-kun to audition."

Aizen choked. "Wait . . . I meant you would . . ." but Momo had already darted out the door.

From the corner, Hitsugaya laughed dryly.

"Looks like you're going to be the one to face the Sou-Taichou after all, Aizen," he grinned.

And not a nice grin either, Aizen reflected as he unwillingly left the room towards the first squad.

The kind of grin Aizen himself would wear when thinking about the destruction and despair he was planning on bringing upon Soul Society.

It was with an incredibly heavy heart and an enormous sense of foreboding that Aizen made his way back to the auditioning room two hours later. Momo was already there, head slumped in her hands, Hitsugaya still slouching in the corner. Both looked towards him as he shut the door behind him.

"Taichou!" Momo's eyes lit up hopefully. "What did the Sou-Taichou say?"

"Just give me a minute," Aizen tried to keep his irritation out of his voice and refrain from whacking his head against the wall as he sat down in his chair. "I need some tea, and fast." He looked pointedly at Momo, who immediately leapt up to do the task.

Once she'd returned and handed both Aizen and Hitsugaya enormous mugs of tea, he decided he couldn't put off the news any longer.

"The Sou-Taichou," he said slowly. "Has made it compulsory for every shinigami of third seat rank and above, excluding himself, to audition."

A colossal spluttering erupted from the corner of the room, as Hitsugaya choked on his tea, spraying the scalding liquid across the carpet, some small droplets even reaching Aizen and Momo.

"WHAT?"

Aizen cringed as the temperature in the room suddenly dropped and an icy wind somehow managed to blast in through the closed window.

Some part of him felt like he should be worrying for his life at the hands of this suddenly enraged captain, but the majority was rather enjoying Hitsugaya's reaction. It was reassuring at least, to know that he would not be the only one thoroughly annoyed by the Sou-Taichou's decision.

Meanwhile, Momo was suddenly beaming. "Shiro-chan, what's wrong? Why are you so angry? This is the best thing the Sou-Taichou's ever done!"

There was a renewed spluttering from Hitsugaya and a muffled one from Aizen. Their eyes met as Momo started happily going on about arranging more auditions, and for once, Aizen felt that they were thinking exactly the same thing.

"So, Shiro-chan, seeing as you're already here, why don't you go first?"

Hitsugaya glared at Momo. "Hinamori . . ."

"Come on, it won't take that long, and I'm sure you can get a really good part!"

Hitsugaya appeared to be temporarily lost for words. "Hinamori . . . I can't . . . I have to . . ." he stumbled over his words.

"But why not?" Momo asked, picking up a pen. "Look, we're all set up for auditions, so you might as well do it now."

"I . . ." Hitsugaya cast around for an excuse. "I have paperwork to do. You've already made me waste most of the day chaperoning for you, plus you've given Matsumoto a chance to skive off her paperwork for the next couple of months, so I'll need to do her load as well."

"It seems like you do hers anyway," Aizen smirked, but under his breath, knowing full well that it wouldn't be too long before Momo realised that he himself was higher than a third seat rank, and force him to audition too.

Momo reached for an audition script and handed it to Hitsugaya. "That's not a very good excuse Shiro-chan, and you'll have to audition anyway, so let's get it over with! Come on, just read this monologue. It doesn't matter that you haven't learnt it off by heart . . . I'm sure you'll be able to read it really well!"

Hitsugaya glowered dubiously down at the paper. "Fine," his voice was arctic-cold. With the air of someone performing an act of great sin, he started reading.

"Bella, I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you," he said, his voice sounding thoroughly pained, though that was probably to do with his reluctance. "You don't know how it's tortured me." Aizen nodded sagely. Yep, he definitely sounded tortured.

"The thought of you, still, white, cold . . . to never see you blush scarlet again, to never see that flash of intuition in your eyes when you see through my pretences . . . it would be unendurable." Hitsugaya paused, then stared down at the script, eyes wide in pure horror and disgust, before turning his gaze on Momo, open-mouthed. "Do I actually have to say this? This . . . this pile of . . ."

"Trash?" supplied Aizen, helpfully.

Momo glared at both of them simultaneously, which Aizen wasn't entirely sure was physically possible, but somehow she managed it.

"Just say it," she ordered. Hitsugaya blanched at her tone, but hastily looked down at the script again. He ran a weary hand through his hair, then reluctantly said the line through gritted teeth.

"You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever."

Momo clapped eagerly. "There you go, Shiro-chan, that wasn't too hard was it? Well done!"

Hitsugaya looked like he begged to differ, but said nothing. He tossed the script on the table. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, yes," Momo smiled, shuffling her papers importantly. "You'll have to come back sometime to do the set scene, but we'll need to get someone for you to do it with, so that can be done later."

Hitsugaya muttered something that sounded to Aizen like "Thank God," then hurried from the room.

Momo turned her beaming expression on Aizen. "He did very well don't you think, Aizen Taichou? I've had an idea for the perfect role for him!"

"Oh, have you now?" Aizen sipped at his tea.

"Yes," Momo got to her feet. "And for Rangiku-san too, but we have lots more auditions to arrange now, don't we?"

"Uh, yes, I suppose so," Aizen stood as well, and followed his vice-captain out of the room, thoroughly dreading the next few days and the inevitability that they would bring.

Another quick note: At the phrase ' An icy wind somehow managed to blast in through the closed window', Neko-chan accidentally typed 'An icy window...' before realising what she'd typed, which made me think: wouldn't it have been cool if 'An icy window suddenly apeared out of nowhere and hit Aizen in the facce, leaving Momo dubstruck' ? lol. AppleDoodle