Chapter 4

"Good morning, Taichou!"

"Arf!"

"Hn?" Rangiku looked down to see a white husky pup with a stick in his mouth. "Aww! He's soo cute! Taichou, where'd you get him? Can we keep him?"

Toushirou did his best to stay focused on the tedious paperwork. "I have to look after him. Orders from the top."

"Eh? The Captain-commander ordered you to look after an adowable wittle puppy?"

"He has some strange abilities. He destroyed the door to the captain's meeting hall, then repaired it within a matter of seconds. Also…" He glanced at the puppy, who was sitting next to him with the stick in his mouth. "I don't know how, but… I know he can at least hear my thoughts, and understand what I say. I'm not sure if he can do that for anyone else."

"Really?" Rangiku looked at the begging puppy. "Aw, Taichou, why don't you play with him?"

"Because I have work to do, idiot."

The puppy was whining again, the stick on the ground in front of him. "Aww! Here sweetie, I'll throw the stick for you." Rangiku reached for the stick.

"Ruff!" The puppy snapped at Rangiku's hand, growled at her a little, then picked up the stick and set it on Toushirou's lap. "Aaoouu…"

"What's with you?" Rangiku barked. "Don't you want someone to throw the stick for you?"

The puppy's ears drooped, his eyes still fixed on Toushirou.

"Just let her throw it," Toushirou ordered. "It won't kill you to play with someone besides me, jeez…"

The puppy leaped onto the desk (miraculously avoiding anything that would've made a mess) and sat, staring at Toushirou.

"WHA-? NO! BAD DOG! OFF!"

The puppy whined.

"GET OFF!" Toushirou tried to shove the puppy off the desk, but the bundle of fur just wouldn't budge.

"Excuse me…"

The sweet voice that Toushirou knew so well immediately caught the puppy's attention. His ears perked up, and one paw raised.

Crap! What's Momo doing here so early in the morning? Toushirou thought. "Come in."

"Arf!" The puppy practically fell off the desk and bounced to the door. His tail was wagging more than usual.

The door opened. Momo's face immediately lit up upon seeing the adorable little furball. "A puppy! Oh, he's so cute!" She bent down to pet the puppy, but he dodged, assuming the playful position.

"Yip-yip! Arf!" *wag wag*

Momo giggled. "Sorry," she said, "I can't play with you right now; I've gotta give these to Hitsugaya-ku- I mean, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I heard that," Toushirou teased. Seeing Momo always seemed to put him in a good mood.

"Hey, at least I corrected myself!" She sighed and stood up. "Here you go… Taichou." She held out a small stack of papers.

She's still having trouble calling me that… Toushirou took the pages from her outstretched hand. "What's this?"

"It's my report. I was wondering… could you, look over it?"

"…Why?" And where the crap did Matsumoto go?

Momo's eyes grew wide for a second. "Oh, well… don't you… look over your Fukutaichou's reports, before they get turned in…?"

Toushirou raised his eyebrow at her. "Of course not; that's her job." He held the papers out to her.

"Oh, um… could you just, look over it anyway? I can wait here-"

"No."

Momo's eyebrows raised, then furrowed. "Why not? It won't take-!"

"Hinamori." He couldn't help but grin inside when she jumped. "How many reports have you written since becoming a Fukutaichou?"

"…um… I don't know…?"

"A lot, right?"

"Well… yeah, but-"

"'But' nothing." He shoved the pages into her hands. "You should know by now how to write a decent report. I'm sure it's fine; just turn it in." He pretended to go back to doing his paperwork.

"AH!"

Toushirou looked up just in time to see Momo's beautiful black hair fall out of the bun she always kept it in. What the-?

The husky pup jumped down from the couch, Momo's hair cloth and ribbon dangling from his teeth. He growled playfully, his tail wagging.

"Oi! Give that back!" Momo set her report on the desk and began chasing the puppy, but he managed to evade her without knocking anything over. Toushirou thought about stopping the puppy at one point, but then decided that this was just way too much fun to watch. He even smiled a few times.

"Oi, come here! I need tha- ah! " Momo slipped and fell behind the couch. The puppy bolted towards Toushirou, threw his front paws on Toushirou's leg, dropped the haircloth and ribbon in Toushirou's lap, and frolicked away, as if he were trying to trick Momo into thinking that he still had the hair cloth. It worked, too; once Momo got up, she continued to chase the puppy around the room. The puppy somehow managed to keep his mouth hidden from her enough for her to assume that he still had the haircloth.

Toushirou glanced at the haircloth in his lap a few times. What should he do? Momo sure looked a lot better with her hair down… plus, the longer the cloth stayed hidden, the longer she'd stay in the office looking for it. But on the other hand… it would certainly be the more mature, adult thing to give the cloth back… she might even thank him for it…

Ah, forget being 'adult'; Momo's my friend! Toushirou opened a drawer and dropped the haircloth inside with such stealth that even Soifon-taichou would've been impressed.

The puppy stopped, faced Momo, and sat. He panted, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, and his tail wagging. "Aou!"

Momo came to a screeching halt. "Wha…? Where's my hair cloth?" She looked around on the floor, the couch, and the coffee table. Then she looked up at Toushirou.

"…What?" he said, feigning annoyance. "Don't look at me; he's been running from you the whole time."

Momo looked back at the puppy. "What did you do with it?"

He lifted his paw and waved it at her. "Aou? Aaouu…" He plopped onto his back.

Momo's eyes widened. "Oh no!" She knelt next to his exposed belly. "Did you swallow it?"

The puppy rolled onto his belly and tilted his head at her. He started looking back and forth between her and Toushirou.

Toushirou glared at him. If you give me away, you stupid freaking dog, I swear, I will hurt you.

The puppy's ears flattened back a little. He jumped up, trotted to Hyourinmaru (which was leaning against the wall in the corner), grabbed it in his teeth, and bolted out of the room.

Rage spread across Toushirou's face. "NO! BAD DOG!" He stood and Shunpo-ed out of the room. "Come back here!"

Momo stood slowly, then picked up her report from the desk. I wonder why Hitsugaya-kun has a dog…? He sure doesn't seem like he wants it…

"Good morning, Hinamo~ri!"

"Ah, good morning, Rangiku-san."

"Where's your hair cloth?"

Momo huffed. "I don't know! Hitsugaya-ku- er, Hitsugaya-taichou's puppy took it, and I don't know what he did with it! I've looked everywhere…"

"Speaking of Taichou…" Rangiku glanced around the room. "Where'd he go?"

"The puppy took off with his zanpakuto, so he chased after it."

"Eh? Really?" Rangiku put her finger on her chin and gazed upwards, as if she were thinking. "This really does look like a strange puppy, then…"

"Rangiku-san?"

"Hn?"

"Why did he even get a puppy in the first place? It doesn't seem like him…"

"Ah, the Captain-commander ordered Taichou to look after him. He has some strange abilities, apparently… I don't think Taichou wants the job, but since the puppy can apparently read his thoughts and understand what he says, Taichou's stuck with him."

"Eh? The puppy can read Hitsugaya…-taichou's thoughts?"

"Yup. Taichou told me himself."

"Really… I wonder if he can read anyone else's thoughts?"

"Ah, who knows…"

Momo checked the time. "Ah! I have to go! Ne, Rangiku-san, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

Momo walked to the door. "If you find my hair cloth, could you bring it to me?"

"Oh, sure! But, you know… you should really try wearing your hair down more often. It looks great!"

Momo smiled. "Thanks, but it gets in the way too much. Well, see you later, Rangiku-san!"

"See ya!"