Chapter Three

"Wah! Wah! Waaahhhhhh!" The piercing sounds of a baby's wail blared throughout her entire room. It shook her vases, it shook her lamp, and it shook her plants, and cracked a mirror here and there. It also broke a dish.

The young babysitter was nowhere to be found in this room, until now… Naori growled, rushing into the room with a towel wrapping her wet hair. Short electrical charges sparked through the strands of her wet hair, slightly frizzing the blue mop. But she didn't care. It was the baby! That little demon! Just what did she do that was so bad? Why did Masaki hate her so much?

"Be quiet Masaki-chan." Naori dully said, rocking the little makeshift bed she had made out of a huge basket balanced on top of two books. Yeah…she had to get creative for the brat and she hated being creative. Being creative was the same as being fashionable. She didn't abhor being fashionable, she just thought it was unnecessary and too much of a hassle. Thus, she didn't care.

The baby continued to cry and cry. This had been going on for about two days now. Once Naori brought Masaki back to her home, she let the baby sleep until the late afternoon of the next day. Then, Masaki woke up, took one look at the fake smile placed on Naori's face, and started to cry. She did fall asleep from her crying, but every time she woke up, she'd started crying all over again. How aggravating!

She was a horrible babysitter. And when she grew up, she was going to be a horrible parent.

"Don't cry Masaki-chan…" Naori choked out, her lips attempting to form a crooked smile. In her head, 'Oh for god's sakes! Shut up!'

Masaki didn't listen. She continued to wail, tear, and cry.

'What if I accidentally severed her voice box?' Naori maliciously thought, her hands glowing green all on its own. 'Rukia and Ichigo will slaughter me…' That turned her hands back to normal.

Naori let out a huge sigh and she just sat there, watching the baby cry and cry until the baby finally fell asleep again from the crying. After a while, Naori figured that the baby was crying because she was hungry. But what do five-month year old babies eat? Are they breastfed? Naori looked down onto her chest. Well that's out of the question. Maybe she'll buy some milk and put it in a bottle like she saw in cartoons.

That was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

Once she had tried feeding Masaki the milk, the orange haired baby spat it right out and continued up her crying rampage. Naori winced a lot when the high-pitched shrieks reached her ears. If she went through this even more, she'll be deaf! Deciding to cease this needless crying, Naori turned to the next best thing that came up in her mind. Go to the human world in disguise and search the Internet! Naori was about to rush to the Senkaimon area, but she luckily stopped herself to think. Is a trip to the World of the Living going to take too long? By then, Masaki would be starving…

"Ahh!" Naori loudly screamed, mussing up her flattened dark blue hair and collapsing onto the bedding she made beside Masaki's cradle thing. "What should I do? What should I do?" She loudly moaned to herself, rolling back and forth in fetal position.

She was going crazy!

In the end, Naori decided to do the next logical thing that came up in her mind. Ask an adult. The closest adult was Matsumoto…maybe that would work?

She was dead wrong.

Matsumoto went on for hours and hours talking about how cute babies were. Basically, in her words… "Ah! I love babies! They're so cute! I want to just hug them and squeeze them and pinch their little cheeks! If I ever see one, I'm taking it home with me! And I'm going to love it forever and ever and ever and ever! Ah! It would be like Captain Hitsugaya getting a new playmate!"

"Bankai…"

Naori was a very lucky one at that time. Maybe because he knew that she had a baby to take care of. But that didn't stop him from chilling her to the bone. Naori had managed to make it out of there with a small frostbite. Let's just say that there's a permanent ice sculpture in the office now.

Naori finally bought the baby formula like Matsumoto had described and she flash stepped home to check up on Masaki. She creaked open her sliding door and slipped in, careful to not make a sound to wake up the baby. She couldn't stand through yet another crying session. She didn't even dare turn on the lights! Thus, she had to make the formula in the complete darkness and pray that it came out right. She prayed that Masaki would accept this botched up formula and happily drink it and maybe perhaps, shut up. She prayed that this mission would end a little faster. She prayed that this would be the last time she ever played mother.

"Masaki-chan. Are you hungry?" Naori asked the awakened baby. Masaki was being eerily quiet while drinking her formula milk. She actually liked it a lot if her cute little coos were a sign. But one look at Naori sent the baby into a wailing spree again.

"Wah! Wah! Wah!" Masaki screamed and wailed in her crying fit.

"Bakudo…" Naori was about to chant, but she held herself back. No. That wouldn't work. It would just make her cry more. She resorted to pleading and begging instead. "Aw please! Stop crying! You've been doing it for three days now! Stop! Please! I'll bring you back to Ichigo and Rukia. I'll give you lots of candy! I'll even let you mess around with Captain Hitsugaya! Just stop crying!"

Eventually, Masaki stopped her crying and fell into a deep sleep. Naori mindlessly rocked Masaki's cradle. This would put Masaki to sleep very quickly, as she had found out on the second day. Every time Masaki slept, it was pure heaven for Naori. She could finally get some time to herself. She didn't have to listen to that awful crying. She was in pure bliss all those times.

Then, Masaki would wake up and Naori would be thrown back into hell.

Like now…

Masaki spontaneously woke up and began crying all over again. Naori groaned loudly out of irritation and rocked the little bed even harder. That proved to be no help at all. She was a horrible parent.

"Maybe you just need a walk?" Naori growled at the whimpering child. She quickly dressed up Masaki into a very warm bundle of blankets. She merely threw a thin haori of gray over her dull blue sleeping kimono. It was not that cold anyways.

The walk of the night was actually Naori flash stepping here and there with Masaki in her arms. Sometimes she would stroll along the streets of Seireitei. Other times, she was flying through the air. Masaki was a bit calmer than usual. She didn't cry and she didn't shriek. This baby must be scared. She only made small whimpers and she was trying to push herself away from Naori's grasp. Naori merely just held onto the baby even tighter. She was not going to let this brat go! Letting her go meant the loss of her vacation time, her job, and her life!

Yet, on a strange note, once Naori was making rounds around the Tenth Division, Masaki strangely ceased all her whimpering. It was when Naori was standing right in front of a door as she was strolling through the larger barracks. She noticed this because Masaki would stop whimpering at the door and start whimpering when she passed it. Naori went forward, Masaki started to cry. Naori walked backwards, Masaki stopped. Naori walked backwards further, Masaki started. Naori went forwards, Masaki stopped.

"Strange…what's so special about this room?" Naori loudly wondered, placing her hand on the screen of the sliding door. Well, this place was the only thing that stopped Masaki from crying and Naori was already making plans on moving in there. This place was finally freedom from that crying hell!

She opened the door.

She saw a sleeping Hitsugaya.

She closed the door.

Well…there goes that plan… Naori turned away. It was not everyday that she saw her captain in his actual living quarters. They were not that close unlike Matsumoto and her daily intrusions to hide sake in his room. Naori went forwards, Masaki began whimpering. Naori went backwards, Masaki stopped.

There was no choice. It was the only option. She was afraid now. She already escaped a Bankai coming from her own captain. Can she escape this one?

Naori slid open the door with a now sleeping Masaki wrapped up into her arms. Carefully, Naori tiptoed around her sleeping captain and out of the door into a hallway only to face Hitsugaya's complex of a captain's quarter. Man! Does a captain have benefits! He had like six rooms in his entire barrack! She must have snuck in through the back door, which led to his bedroom. She could see a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, a training hall, and a little empty room probably for meditating. She only had two rooms…a center room and a bathroom. But now was not the time to marvel at his rooming arrangements. Naori placed Masaki into the meditation room and quietly left the baby sleeping there.

The easy part was done…now for the hard part, bringing this up to her captain…that's going to be difficult.

"What should I say?" Naori mumbled to herself as she paced up and down his living room. "Hey Captain Hitsugaya! How's it going? Can the baby stay here with you?" That sounded wrong. "Captain Hitsugaya. I ran into problems with the baby. It seems that the only solution is to room her in with you." That sounded even more wrong. There was no perfect way. 'I guess I'll just have to say it loud and clear.' Naori sighed at her predicament. She readied her zanpakuto at her side just in case. She was not entering a discussion for an agreement. She was entering a battle.

Naori silently tiptoed back into the bedroom of Hitsugaya's and kneeled down beside his futon bed. The young shinigami reached out and tried to shake her captain awake. "Captain Hitsugaya. Captain Hitsugaya. Wake up sir!" She whispered with every shake.

He didn't respond at all. In fact, he rolled over to his side and continued to ignore Naori's shaking as if treating her like an annoying bug. A pulsating vein sprang up in Naori's forehead and a growl escaped her mouth. She was not in the mood of playing games.

"Hitsu-kun! Wake up!"

"My name is Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou! Not Hitsu-kun! You stupid Crybaby!" Hitsugaya retorted at her once he heard the nickname escape from her mouth. He literally jumped out of bed once that nickname escaped from Naori's lips. The usual lines he was shouting looked like they were almost out of instinct. It was funny… for a moment.

"Shh! Shut up or you'll wake her!" Naori exclaimed in a whisper and clamped her hand over his mouth to get him to quiet down. Unfortunately, her daring move made her knee get caught up in her sleeping kimono and she simply tripped. Before she knew it, she was laying right on top of him and looking straight at him eye to eye. Their chests were uncomfortably touching and their faces were only inches away from each other.

"Ommm gmonna mankmai moh aff." (I'm gonna Bankai your ass.) Hitsugaya grumbled, staring icy daggers right back into Naori's golden orbs.

"Sorry…" Naori sheepishly mumbled and quickly got up. That…was embarrassing.

Hitsugaya finally got himself adjusted away from that uncomfortable position and he sat up on his bed, facing Naori. "First of all," He started, "What are you doing in my quarters?"

"Ah…well…you see…" Naori started off and she made a brief explanation of how she got here. Hitsugaya simply nodded at each of her statements, maybe his way of acknowledging the truth. But that soon went away with the next words that came out of her mouth. "So can Masaki stay here?"

"What…"

"I know it may be rude. But it's the only solution."

"No."

"But-"

"I told you to fix this problem on your own! It's your mission that I assigned you. Don't drag me into your failures. Now stop whining and crying about it and bring Masaki back into your home." He strictly ordered.

"Don't even talk to me about crying." Naori dangerously warned with her sudden discharges of electricity making the lights flicker. "For the past three days, I've been listening to that baby cry over and over again. She completely hates me! If I hear her cry one more time, I'm going to go insane!"

"That's your problem, not mine." He strictly replied.

"But it's not fair! It's your fault this baby got here in the first place!" Naori complained.

"Well then, do you know a fair way to settle this?"

"Uh…" Naori had to think a bit for this one. She raised a fist, "Rock-paper-scissors?"

Hitsugaya merely stared dumbfounded at the girl. Maybe her time with Masaki really drove her insane. "Excuse me…you're going to use that little child's game to decide this dilemma."

"That or we argue till dawn!" Naori proclaimed and she raised her fist back up again, ready to make her first move.

Hitsugaya just sighed. He hated doing this. He hated children's game. It was so immature even for Naori's age. Heck, she's older than him! But he'll agree just for now since it seemed like a quick solver for this problem they were having. And thus, he raised his fist as well.

"Rock-paper-scissors!"

Naori had rock and Hitsugaya had paper.

"I win."

Naori froze. Her mouth dropped wide open. Her clenched fist stayed in its exact position. She felt her knees clench slightly in her kneeling position, which would have keeled her over in a second. She was too frozen to even fall. Hitsugaya merely ignored her shocked reaction and he got up to go retrieve Masaki.

"Wait. Do over."

"I won fair and square." Hitsugaya argued. "Now, you bring the baby back to your barracks this instance."

"Wait!" Naori pleaded. She was already near begging now.

"No." Hitsugaya plainly rejected. He tried to take a step forward…but he couldn't. The bottom of his robe tightened as if there was someone tugging on it. It was a soft tug with no sharp jerks or forceful pulls. It was something that was meant to keep him there and never let him go. The young captain turned around to see Naori was tugging on the hem of his sleeping kimono. He couldn't see her face clearly, but he could see some wet spots on his mattress. Great…she was crying. He knelt down before her after the tug. She had her face hidden, but he could clearly spot the twinkle of tears emitting from her golden eyes.

He felt his heart tighten a bit after getting a good look at her crying face. Sure, he saw her crying a couple of times, but that was because he walked into other people making her cry. He would then proceed to severely injure them for making her cry. But this was on of those few times where he actually made her cry.

He was stuck.

"I-I don't want to be left alone." A soft voice came out of her.

'I better not regret this.'

"Fine…" The captain mumbled, turning his red face away. "You can stay…"

Naori's face lit up with her tears vanishing. "Really?" She asked, with her hands clenching on the fabric of his sleeve.

"Yes, the baby can stay in my quarters." He snapped at her, trying to release her grip. "Only on one condition though."

"What is it? I'll do anything to make Masaki stay here."

He smirked, "You'll continue to take care of this baby. In here."

Her face froze up again. "What." She dully responded. "What? Did you say?"

"You'll still take care of Kurosaki's daughter. It's just a change in location." He remarked. "Did you really expect I'll take care of this kid after you leave it with me?"

'Well…yeah…' She admitted in her head. There goes that plan. She still had trouble in her hands. But she, a Fifth seat subordinate, sleeping in the same vicinity as her captain at around the same age. That doesn't sound right at all! Napping in his office was already a stretch!

"Are you crazy?" She exclaimed. "This is wrong! You and I aren't even close to dating!"

"You said you wanted the baby in here." He said with a shrug. "She's still your responsibility. So you're going to have to attend to her every need, even if it's in my own barracks. I, obviously, do not intend on taking care of her."

"Wait! How are we going to even room here? I mean, if anyone sees me in your barracks, rumors and stuff like that are going to be spreading around." She said, panicking.

"Just don't get caught. If you're an idiot and get caught, just say that I sent you to retrieve something from my barracks." He explained.

"What about sleeping arrangements?"

He just shrugged. "I have an empty room. That can be the baby's room."

Naori stared at him, tilting her head to the side in question, "So…where am I going to sleep?"

That was a good question. He shrugged, "I don't know. Sleep with the baby."

"If I do that…" She pointed out. "You'll never get a good night of sleep. Ever."

"What else can I do?" He groaned, "I can have you sleep in my room."

"Eh!" Naori was about to shriek, but quickly muffled her sound with her hands. She could feel her hands sweat a bit and her cheeks blushing red once again. He was crazy! A captain and his subordinate sleeping in the same room! Only a foot away from each other! Their breaths of air being blown as they slept! It was wrong! Totally wrong! "No! That can't happen!" She exclaimed back.

"Oh. Okay then." He coolly replied, subtly ignoring her shocked reaction. Maybe what he said was worded a bit wrong, but he always had a kick of manipulating the usual mischief-ridden Naori. The same girl, who was always finding ways to get out of work and conning money out of his pockets, was cowering right in front of him. That was fun. He simply replied back, "I'll take my bedroom back and you'll sleep in the living room. There should be an extra mattress somewhere."

"Oh…okay." Naori quietly said, hiding her embarrassed face. She glanced up back at her captain, "But wait! I still don't think I should be rooming here…with you…"

Time to pull out his final weapon. "I'll double your salary." He stated, watching Naori's face turned from worry into opportunistic glee.

"Oh, so you're going to take it that far to keep me in here?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm not taking care of the baby." He finalized with a nod and glanced outside. "It's really late. And I'm tired. I don't feel like moving all the furniture in my living room. How about you take the mattress and sleep in the baby's room?"

She scoffed at the idea. "No. I've had enough of that baby. For once, I just want a peaceful night of sleep." Naori boldly stated and she quickly headed for the back door.

"Wait! Nao-"

"I'll see you in the morning." And with that, she flash stepped away from his quarters.

Hitsugaya clenched his fist and groaned. In his head, he could already think of the amount of paperwork he was going to punish her with. But putting that aside, he glanced back at the room Masaki was left in. He hoped that she wouldn't wake up crying. Aside from dealing with Naori's tears, he wasn't really well accustomed to crying children. He wondered how Naori was able to make Masaki cry so quickly. She must have been bad with children like she said. Maybe she wasn't the right choice for this after all…

He heard a shuffle of the blankets and was greeted with a pair of brown eyes staring at him. Masaki tilted her head at the visitor, smiled, and started making weird babbling noises. She was reaching out for Hitsugaya. But he could see it clearly; a thin, blue thread was clamped in the fist of the little baby. He could recognize this dull shade of blue; only Naori wore such a boring color. She always had a very bland sense of fashion, mostly because she was that lazy. Now, it must have been getting so bad that her own sleeping kimono was falling apart on her and she doesn't have the care to replace it. Though Masaki didn't mind this thread as she was playing around with it.

He smirked.

Nah. Naori's going to do just fine…


Ah another chapter done! I have successfully put my OC through hell and back. Again. I love torturing her. On the other hand, my reviews were good. Thanks so much. Of course, the website likes to act weirdly on me for some reason. I have such bad luck on this site. But I still love it! Thanks for your reviews and continue to review!