And, I'm back! I still don't own Bleach (am saving my pennies, though). I am working on the two ficlets in progress that are now part of this lovely set of whatevers...

Symmetry does have some one-sided (or really, no-sided) HitsuHina in it. But, it is all part of le plan. The fic is mainly humor and has a lot of Matsumoto in it...she comes off kind of ditzy, but this is light-Matsu...not serious Matsu...and I think it's pretty IC. I hope.

Hopefully I will update in a couple of days.

Review me! It gives me hope that some people are reading this set of stories...

Symmetry I

Every once in a while, Aizen liked to stretch his 'evil' muscle. So when Matsumoto Rangiku showed up at his door late one night, he was suitably intrigued.

"Aizen-taicho?" the woman sang, "I need to talk with you about Hinamori-fukutaicho."

He slid the door open quietly, asking, "What is it?" as the woman edged past him and into his quarters.

"Well," she said, drawing the syllable out into its own dimension, "I think my taicho fancies her."

Aizen blinked. He couldn't imagine Hitsugaya fancying anyone, but he supposed that Momo was a logical choice…they'd been close once, although professionalism to some extent kept them apart. "Aww. Isn't that cute?" he said, deciding that Matsumoto wanted him to be indulgent.

Thankfully, Matsumoto didn't notice the too-loud quality in his voice that betrayed his insincerity. It was drowned out by her own impending excitement. "Oh yes! I've been wanting to hook him up for ages! My taicho needs to learn how to relax and enjoy himself! Wouldn't it be so cute if they got to date!"

Aizen almost gagged as that thought rose in his brain like bile, but managed to smile as if he agreed. "Quite." He was suddenly happy that Matsumoto didn't have an inclination towards evil, since both her information-gathering resources and her single-mindedness (and tacit authorization of 'any means necessary') surpassed his…at least when the issue at stake was one of importance to her. Thankfully, the only things that seemed to be of true importance to her were parties, the happiness of her friends, and herself. Even so, her propensity towards chaos, gossip and disaster was legendary.

He was certain that Matsumoto had thought of a plan. An Evil Plan. There was no one who was the subject, specimen and victim for Matsumoto more than Hitsugaya himself, and she was surely not at his door at this hour merely to disseminate gossip. No, she could—and probably would—make Hitsugaya even more miserable…all in the interests, of course, of his 'happiness'.

Since Matsumoto was waiting for him to say something more, he asked, "And how did you find out this information? Are you certain that—"

"Trust me," she injected, "I am one-hundred percent certain…but…I'm not sure that you want to know how I found this out."

Aizen shuddered. "Then I will put my faith in you," he said, hoping to bypass the awkward turtle that had suddenly waddled into the room.

"Great!" she chirped. "So, then, I'll let you in on my secret!" She acted as if this was a bigger deal than, for instance, exposing Hitsugaya's very private feelings to an acquaintance—after having heard of them through some illicit and vaguely disturbing means…

She leaned forward, and, unfortunate as it was, Aizen was already caught in the trap. He was rather interested in learning her plot, and he knew it involved Hinamori so he had a personal stake. "The Shinigami Women's Association is holding a ball!" she squealed, causing him to jump back suddenly.

This moment, he thought to himself, would be an entirely appropriate occasion for a sweatdrop.

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And...convenient stopping point, yay! I will have the rest of this, and another couple drabbles, out soon.