This chapter was inspired by my reaction to caffeine in large amounts. Enjoy. Finally, we meet our other leading man.

You will not understand the very first little conversation if you haven't seen the shinigami cup golden where Ukitake is giving candy to Toshirou. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it. Friggin funny.

Thanks to my continuing reviewers:

LupiLupus

OkamixInu

Chapter Three

Sunny slept late into the morning- it was about ten when she dragged herself out of bed. Aiko was reading in the kitchen, sitting at the table; when she took her book down from in front of her face Sunny could see she was sucking happily upon a large pink lollipop. Eyes half-open, Sunny sat groggily next to her, noticing the candy with interest.

"Candy?" Sunny muttered, too tired to use full sentences. After all, she had only gotten about four hours of sleep.

"Captain freeloader." Aiko said, continuting to read; she had adopted Sunny's name for him. "He has a remarkable amount of storage space inside his sleeves. He made me eggs, too."

"Good for him."

"He didn't trust me with the stove." pouted Aiko.

"Again, good for him." She sighed. "I need coffee."

"He made some. It's on the counter over there. He left, by the way. He said he was going to find his way to his estate. Go find him, please. He's never going to find it on his own."

"Okay." She yawned, walking over to the coffeepot that Aiko indicated and pouring herself a generous cup. "I'll go find that poor man with no sense of direction, Aiko. See you later."

"Yeah, see you." replied Aiko, absorbed in her book once more.

Sunny took deep sips of her coffee as she walked along the streets, letting it wake her up bit by bit. She assumed Ukitake would go to the main street, since they had gone back from there the following day, and he would probably be able to get directions from there to his estate. "Estate." she muttered darkly. Really, an estate?

As soon as she stepped out into the main street, she could tell there was something going on. The 72nd district as an entire entity had moods; sometimes it was happy, sometimes it was sad- today it was gossipy, everyone whispering to their neighbor some small piece of information. Sunny began to giggle helplessly, even though there was nothing funny. Uh oh, the coffee is kicking in, she thought. She was getting strange looks herself. She stifled her laughter as she bounced down the street. It wasn't long before she discovered the source of everybody's interest.

He was tall- no, tall didn't even begin to touch upon his height. He was massive. He towered over everyone on the street, a good four feet taller than Sunny herself; he also wore the black kimono and white haori of a shinigami captain. But his height and rank weren't the most spectacular thing about him; his face was. It was the face of a canine, with rich russet fur. Normally Sunny would have some smart comment rolling off her tongue, but because she was deliriously hyper because of the coffee she had just drunk she had a very different reaction.

Giggling, she skipped over to the tall, well, she supposed he was a man. He looked down at her silently, his eyes revealing nothing. "You-" She started, but collapsed into giggles before being able to continue. "You have the cutest ears."

"Thank you." he replied solemnly, but not without a perplexed lilt in his voice.

"No, really. They're so cute. Can I pet them?"

"I suppose…" he said. He was about to kneel down, but Sunny leapt up onto a nearby food stand before he could. She reached her hands out to his ears, he twitching involuntarily as she touched them. She stroked them lightly, giggles escaping her throat every few seconds. He watched her with confusion as she petted his ears for a few minutes straight; he eventually couldn't resist, and asked, "Why do you find my ears so facinating?"

"Well, it's not just the ears. It's the whole picture. I mean, you're a wolf, but you're not. You're a person. It's so cool and different!" she giggled, inwardly sighing at her own antics.

"You… like that?" he asked, clearly shocked.

"Well, sure! I mean, it's definitely different. And it's the best sorta thing to be different! I try to be different. It's no fun being the same as everybody else."

"You're certainly different…"

"Oh, I'm not usually like this, I promise. I just had a lot of coffee, and I'm reeeeaaaallly hyper." she collapsed into giggles. "My name's Sunny, by the way. What's yours?"

"Sajin Komamura."

"Ooh, I like your name. It's fun to say. Sajin, Sajin, Sajin. You're a shinigami captain, aren't you?" she said quickly.

"Yes."

"Is it fun being a captain?"

"Generally." He stuck with short answers, slightly cowed by the voracious young girl.

"Oooh, that's cool. I don't think I want to be a shinigami. Too much work, blech. besides, I'm happy where I am." she collapsed into giggles again.

"Oh boy." a voice said from behind Komamura's back. "Remind me never to make coffee around you again. And why is it than when you meet him, you pet his ears, and when you met me, you tried to steal my food?"

Recognizing the voice, Sunny leaned over Komamura's shoulder, resting her arms on his shoulder and her head on top of them. "Because you don't have fun ears. And I never steal food. Trick people out of it, yes. But I never steal." Just then, the temporary high she had gained from the coffee wore off suddenly, leaving her drained of energy and strangely hungry.

"Are you okay?" Ukitake asked as her eyelids suddenly began to drift closed.

"Fine, just falling asleep on the shoulder of someone I just met." she said sarcastically, patting Komamura's head. Komamura blinked, visibly surprised by the sudden personality change.

"There's the Sunny I know." Ukitake smiled.

"I'm too tired for your ridiculous cheerfulness."

"You really aren't a morning person, are you?"

"No, I'm usually very good with mornings. Your idiotic coffee is what is making me irritable."

"I don't see how one connects to the other…" Komamura interjected. Both Ukitake and Sunny looked at him in surprise.

"Oh be quiet."

"That's what I was thinking." they said simultaneously.

"Oh, Komamura." Ukitake said to the other captain, ignoring Sunny. "Do you know how to get to Ugendo, my family's estate, from here?"

"Yes, I was actually just going there to talk to you."

"Oh, can you do me a favor and take me there? I don't know how to get there from here."

"Of course." said Komamura formally.

"You're kidding me." Sunny sighed. "I didn't have to come out here at all. The world is out to get me, I swear." She jumped down from the table, landing lightly on the dirt of the street. "I'm going home." she said bleakly as she walked off.

"She certainly is a handful." Komamura said after a small pause.

"Yup." Ukitake replied.