Chapter 4:

This was a disaster. Rangiku had no idea how to fix this or how to hide it from her Captain. If he found out about this, he was going to do a lot more than just yell.

Rangiku looked around but nothing was jumping out at her. She just saw Ichigo and Kira crawling around on the floor. She had no idea what to do.

In her desperation, she stood up and went over to the door to the office. She stuck her head out and looked up and down the hallway. There weren't too many people around anymore. This was good news just in case either one of them barked. It would be rather hard to explain.

She felt something paw at her leg. She looked down and saw Kira looking up at her. "Shoo, shoo," she hissed. Kira tried to stick his nose out into the hall to look around but she couldn't have that either. She grabbed the back of his kimono and pulled him away from the door.

When she looked into the hall a second time, she saw her Captain walking towards the office.

A jolt of fear shot through her body and Rangiku shoved Kira away from the door and told him to be quiet. When all he did was stare at her, she quickly went into the hall and closed the door behind her.

"Hi, Captain!" she said louder than necessary.

"Hi," he said flatly.

"What brings you here?"

He raised a brow at her. "This is my office."

"Of course, of course." She gave a nervous laugh.

Hitsugaya tried to enter the room but Rangiku wouldn't let him. She blocked the door with her body.

"Captain, don't go in there."

"Why not?"

"Because… Because…" She searched for answers. She had to keep him out of that room. "Because… I'm doing paperwork in there."

Hitsugaya looked at her skeptically. "Really?"

"Yes, and I need all the concentration I can get."

"Do you, now?" He wasn't buying it.

"I wanted to get all the work done in order to surprise you. So please stay out of the office for a while, ok, Captain?"

Hitsugaya folded his arms. "Just what are you hiding in there that you don't want me to see?"

Rangiku laughed and gave a wave of her hand, dismissing his words. "Oh, Captain, you are too suspicious! You worry way too much. Can't I do something nice for you for a change?"

Hitsugaya stared at her then shrugged his shoulders. "Alright. If that's the case, let me see what you've accomplished so far."

She blocked the door with her arms outstretched to either side. "And ruin the surprise? Oh, Captain, you should know better."

Hitsugaya was getting agitated now. "Let me in."

"I can't, Captain."

"You're hiding something."

"No, I'm not."

"Then let me in the office."

"But you'll ruin the surprise."

"I hate surprises."

"No, you don't. You love them."

"I'd love for you to move."

Rangiku stood where she was.

Hitsugaya stood as tall as he could and gave her an order. "Rangiku, as your Captain, I order you to move away from this door. Right now!"

"Using your authority to muscle your way through. Don't you think that's a little…"

"Now!" he snapped. "Do it!"

He did have authority over her. She had to obey him, no matter how much she didn't want to.

"But, Captain…." She whined.

"Rangiku…" he said in a warning tone.

She sighed. "Ok…" she whined again and stepped aside.

"Thank you." Hitsugaya opened the door and went inside.

Rangiku bit her lip. She could always try picking him up like a child and carrying him away, but something told her that would enrage him even more than her refusing to let him into the office. She would end up a frozen statue if she tried such a thing.

Hitsugaya expected to find discarded bottles of sake around the room but he found nothing of the sort. Usually she would try to hide such a thing from him which was what he assumed she was trying to keep him from seeing. There must have been another reason why she didn't want him in here. He found it hard to believe she was telling the truth about doing paperwork. Impossible, really. He searched for any other possibility.

Then he discovered two people staring at him from the other side of the room.

"Ichigo, when did you get here?"

Ichigo didn't respond.

"Oh, I see," said Hitsugaya. "You're hiding from Rukia. I heard about your meeting, but it was canceled on account of Ukitake. Don't worry, I won't tell her where you are."

Ichigo sniffed the air then turned away and looked out the window.

Rangiku held her breath. So far, Hitsugaya hadn't noticed anything amiss, but that was sheer luck. If Ichigo had barked or came over on all fours, then her Captain would have noticed for sure. The fact that Ichigo hadn't said anything meant she was safe for a few more seconds.

"See?" Rangiku said, trying to hurry him out of the room. "Nothing's going on. Now, if you please, I'd like to get back to work."

"If you were hiding Ichigo in here, why didn't you just tell me in the first place?" Hitsugaya asked her. "You think I'm a snitch? I wouldn't tell her where he was."

"Yes, well, anyway…"

Hitsugaya looked down at Kira who was on all fours, pawing at something under the desk.

"Lose something, Kira?" he asked.

Rangiku held her breath again. She silently begged Kira not to make a sound.

"Kira?"

He looked up.

"Everything alright?" Hitsugaya asked him, bending down. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Kira licked the tip of Hitsugaya's nose.

"Wha..?!" Hitsugaya jumped back.

"Dammit," Rangiku squeaked.

"Kira, what did you do that for?" Hitsugaya wiped his nose off on his sleeve. "Are you drunk?"

Kira said the only thing he could say. "Bark!"

Rangiku hissed inwardly in horror. This wasn't good.

"Huh?"

Kira opened his mouth and barked again, letting his tongue dangle over his teeth.

Ichigo joined him, barking and panting heavily from where he sat by the window.

"Kira? Ichigo?" Hitsugaya looked from one to the other then yelled, "Rangiku!"

"Yes?" she asked nervously.

Hitsugaya pointed. "Why are these two acting like dogs?"

"Surprise?"

He knew there was a reason Rangiku didn't want him in here and now he knew why. She didn't want him to discover this.

There was no lie that could save her from this. Her Captain found out. He knew they were dogs. She couldn't say they were playing a game or were really, really drunk, and she couldn't say it was a bet. She had to tell him the truth about what happened.

In hopes of saving herself from further punishment, Rangiku started the explanation by saying, "It wasn't my fault."

"I'll be the judge of that," said Hitsugaya. "Explain."

Rangiku sighed. "See, after I upset Kira before, I wanted him to feel better and be more confident, but I was worried he wouldn't understand or he'd still be really pissed off about before, so I asked Akon to whip something up that would allow me to make Kira more confident so things would bother him less. He said that the pills he gave me would force the person who swallowed them into a highly suggestive state so they would obey the first command they hear. I wanted to tell him to be more confident, but instead I accidently said 'you're a dog' and Kira and Ichigo both heard the command and now they're dogs. But I swear I only gave the pill to Kira. I have no idea how Ichigo got it."

"How is the least of our problems right now, Rangiku!" He pointed. "Look at them!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Rangiku was truly upset and not because she got caught. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted Kira to not be so sensitive about things."

"So instead of confronting the problem by talking to him, you instead try to change his personality?"

Rangiku paused. "Well, when you say it like that…"

"There's no other way to say it!"

"I just thought if he was more confident, stuff he's so sensitive to would bother him less. That's all."

Hitsugaya rubbed his temples. "Why didn't you just talk to him about this? Why did you go for the quick fix? A fix that you got us both into?"

"I tried talking to him before, but it came out all wrong and only ended up making him feel worse. I didn't want to risk making it even worse than it already was, so I thought this was the best way to handle it."

"By changing him? You thought the way to handle him being sensitive to your words was to turn him into someone who can take what you dish out? Not to be more mindful of what you say and work on thinking before you speak? Or act, for that matter?"

"I thought I did think this through. I didn't expect this to happen. I'm sorry, Captain."

Hitsugaya looked at the two boys staring at them with curious eyes. "We have to fix this."

"I know that, but I don't know how. The pills Akon gave me only work once and he only gave me two of them. They're gone. These two swallowed them."

Hitsugaya tried snapping his fingers. "Wake up, you two. Snap out of it."

"I already tried that."

"Then the only thing we can do now is let the others know what happened and try to come up with a solution."

"No!" Rangiku grabbed his wrist before he could leave the room. "We can't let anyone find out about this. If the Head Captain finds out or anyone else for that matter…"

"Then we won't have a way to solve this. Rangiku, we can't cover this up. They can't stay in this office forever. Hiding them won't solve anything. Ichigo has to return to his home and Kira has to fulfill his duties as a Lieutenant."

"But if we spread the word about this and march them around the Soul Society in this state, think of what will happen," Rangiku explained. "If people see them like this, they'll be humiliated. Especially Kira. You know how sensitive he is. If word gets out that he was crawling around barking like a dog, they'll never let him live it down. Whether or not they know it's not his fault. Even if I tell people I'm responsible for his state, they'll still make fun of him mercilessly. Ichigo, too. He'll never be able to show his face here again. Do you really want them both to be laughed at and ridiculed for something that is beyond their control?"

She had a point. Not everyone in the Seireitei could be deemed reasonable. Hitsugaya could name several people off the bat who would willingly make fun of both of them even knowing it wasn't their fault. Even knowing how sensitive Kira was, they would harass him at every turn. Hitsugaya didn't want to be responsible for that. Kira was bullied in the past for less. This. This was much worse. Kira never acted like a dog before and was picked on. Hitsugaya could only imagine how much worse it would be for him if people found out about this.

If their positions had been switched, Hitsugaya would never want anyone to know he acted this way, even if it was done with the intention of helping him return to normal. He would want this to be handled as discreetly as possible.

"You're right. We can't let them leave the office and have people see them like this. And we can't let word spread about this, either. For their sakes."

Rangiku let go of his wrist. "Thank you, Captain."

"They shouldn't have to pay for your mistakes."

Rangiku hung her head. "Thanks, Captain…"

Hitsugaya started to pace the room. "Hmm. Even if we did spread the word, it's very likely that most people would be unable to help with this situation. And if a pill was responsible, there's no reason to go to the Head Captain for this. He wouldn't know what to do. If you got this pill from the 12th Division, then that is where we need to go to get help for these two. We need to speak with Akon."

"Good thinking, Captain," said Rangiku. "But Akon told me there was no cure for this. At least, that's what I think he said."

"We still have to try. We can't leave them like this. We'll go to the lab and ask Akon for help. If he gave you the pills in the first place, then he must know what to do."

"Ok, let's go."

Rangiku and Hitsugaya started to leave then noticed the two crawling after them. Ichigo and Kira couldn't be left alone. Who knew what kind of trouble they could get into with the minds of dogs and the bodies of a teenager and Soul Reaper? Besides, what if someone entered the office and saw them? That was exactly what they wanted to avoid.

"New plan," said Hitsugaya. "I'll go to the lab. You stay and look after these two."

"Got it."

"I'll be right back. Keep them here and keep them out of sight."

"You can count on me, Captain."

Hitsugaya muttered on his way out.

This was not how he expected to spend his day. He had a mountain of paperwork to get through and now he had to help Rangiku handle two dogs? Hopefully her babysitting skills were better than her problem-solving skills.

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