Vietvn: WOW...its been a while since i updated...actually i forgot wen i last updated but its too long for my taste so n e ways..here's chapter nine!

Chapter Nine: When There's Love, There's Jealousy

Everything has become a little more lively now that the execution of Kuchiki Rukia was on the top of the list of shinigami news. Days passed and her execution was drawing nearer and nearer. The only other thing that happened with her was that Rukia has transferred into another cell called the Shrine of Penitence.

Other than that, nothing much has happened. Hitsugaya was off on another meeting again which left me in the division with Matsumoto. We were in his office on the couch just lazing around, well, maybe Matsumoto was lazing around but I clearly showed myself that I was bored. Dead bored, so bored that I almost thought I would end up missing the little snowman. But still, at least with him there, I would have something to do which is bugging the hell outta him.

" You're thinking about him aren't you? " A voice cut me out of my chain of thoughts. I turned to Matsumoto questioningly.

" What? "

" You're thinking about Taicho ne? " Matsumoto repeated smugly.

" No I'm not. " I replied.

" Don't deny it Rei-chan, you liiikkkeee him! " teased Matsumoto. My face scrunched up and with an annoyed look I retorted.

" No I don't! "

" Ohh? Then why are you blushing? " I hadn't realized that I was blushing but when I gently touched my face, it was burning hot. I turned away from Matsumoto who was in hysterics. Giving a side glare at her, she finally calmed down.

" You do Rei-chan! Rei-chan has a crush on Taicho! "

" You can't prove it... "

" Oh yea? Just now when we were just sitting here, you should've seen the look on your face. It's like you're staring out into space and everyone once in a while, you would let out a sigh. And it sounded so dreamy like. " I couldn'tw believe what she's telling me...Was I really doing that?

" You always pick fights with him out of nowhere AND you're always so unlively when he's not around. " I couldn't say anything back, I admit that I've caught myself thinking about him one too many times but did it really show? I slouched back on the sofa I was on, this action made Matsumoto think I admit defeat so she bounded over from the couch across from to my couch and plopped down right beside me.

" It's ok, I think Taicho likes you too but like you, he doesn't want to admit it. " I looked up at her, curiosity getting the better of me and my hopes-of-being-liked-back instincts perked up. Matsumoto smirked at my hopefulness, I immediately dropped the look and urged her to continue casually while trying not to make it seem obvious.

" How so? "

" Well, usually he's always doing paperwork and when that happens, nothing gets to him. Maybe if someone were to call him short or a kid then maybe he would shout but then he'll drop it. But for you, he goes on as long as you have something to say back at him. I think he just uses it as an excuse to talk to you. " I was mildly surprised when I heard that.

" How would you know? " I asked again.

" Rei-chan, I've been working with him ever since he became Taicho of this division. Within those years, I've learned a lot of stuff about him. "

" Like how he doesn't like to be called short, kid, or his first name? " I joked. Matsumoto laughed.

" And Shiro-chan. "

" Shiro-chan? " I laughed, I have to use that name to see the looks on his face the next time I see him.

" Yeah, Hinamori-chan calls him that. "

" Hinamori? Oh you mean that girl I first met? The one who showed me to his office? " I had only seen her once and only once and that was when she showed me Hitsugaya's office the first time I found out I was staying in his division. Other than that, I hadn't bothered much to know which division she was in or who her taicho was.

" Yes her. She's a childhood friend of Taicho. And he's a bit overprotective of her too. " answered Matsumoto. I nodded my head; childhood friend? So that's how she knows Hitsugaya. Hmph, figured something along the lines. But something in my head popped up when Matsumoto had said she was a childhood friend, as if that word triggered it to. Something that was equivalent to a six year old girl glaring at her friend because of the new teddy bear she got.

Jealousy. And that worried me deeply, I wasn't like this before so why now?

Just when I was about to lose myself in my thoughts, the sudden sound of an alarm went off. It was the exact same alarm that had rang throughout Seireitei when I had first came. Matsumoto immediately got up and ran out of the division. I followed soon afterwards just in time to hear the announcement.

" Alert! Alert! Seireitei is being invaded! I repeat, Seireitei is being invade! "

" Another Ryoka attack? " muttered Matsumoto as she sped off to probably find her Taicho. I glanced around, not really knowing what to do in this kind of situation; help out the fellow shinigamis or go off finding the Ryokas myself. I chose the second but before I could make a decision on which way to go, a sudden explosion erupted from the sky.

Glancing up, I saw that the barrier around Seireitei was holding off something that was trying to break through. On closer inspection, it looked like a glass orb. A few seconds later, the orb exploded through the barrier with many streaks of light separating from each other. The streaks landed in different parts of Seireitei and once again, the shinigamis each rushed off to a direction, hoping to catch the Ryoka.

I sped off to a direction also, picking the farthest one to the north. Many times, I passed by a shinigami search squad. I tried sensing their reiatsu, one of them had already engaged into battle with probably a seated officer of a division. I chose to follow it since it was the strongest aura I could feel. Upon arriving though, I saw the 3rd seat officer of the 11th division, Madarame Ikkaku. Fighting him was an orange haired shinigami with a large sword on his back, wrapped in bandages. They were just getting pumped up to fight each other, even though they haven't started yet, I already knew who had the upper hand.

5th seat of the 11th division, Ayasegawa Yumichika had left to chase down the ryoka's companion.

I perched myself on a roof not too far away from them and watched their fight commence, after a few struggles, the orange haired shinigami won the battle. Before turning to leave, Ikkaku had stopped the ryoka and had exchanged a few words with him before passing out. Carrot top left, probably to go search for his companion.

-

After a few minutes of following carrot top, he finally met up with his companion. As they continued to run around in Seireitei blindly, they were confronted by more shinigami squads from the 11th divison. Apparently during the whole encounter, they had accidentally ran into the 7th seat of the 4th division, Yamada Hanataro. Using him as a hostage in hopes of getting away from the 11th squad which failed miserably much to my amusement, they were lucky to escape when something else had distracted the 11th sqaud.

I got bored after following them for a while so I settled myself on a tree branch and just let the seated officers and squads do the chasing. If something comes up, I'll check it out later. But for now, I'm taking a nap.

I don't know how long I've been sleeping for but I was rudely woken up when a rush of panicking footsteps stampeded pass me and my tree. A couple of voices were heard and that was just about it before I finally decided to open my eyes to glare at whoever was making that ruckus. Surprisingly, the only person I caught was none other than Momo Hinamori. And apparently she spotted me just when she was about to rush after the noisy group that just rushed pass me.

" Oh Reimei-chan! What are you doing there?! Don't you know what's going on in Seireitei right now? " She asked.

" Of course I know what's going on..." I replied cooly, the way she asked me that in the first place made it seem like I was the stupid one here.

" Then what are you doing there? Renji was just rushed to medical aid after he was found bloodied up from a battle with one of the ryokas. " Now that news interested me so I slung my legs from the branch and jumped down.

" Really...Then come on, bet you were on your way there. " I said, she nodded and then rushed off with me following her. Once we reached the small building, I spotted the red head lying on a stretcher with many bandages on his chest. Izuru Kira, fukutaicho of the 3rd division was there and came to greet us. Hinamori was to say, in shock that Renji was passed out and was badly wounded in front of her.

" I found him like this when I arrived with a couple of squads but if only I had arrived sooner, I could've joined and fought too..." He said a bit saddened. Hinamori shook her head still a bit shocked.

" N-No Kira-kun, its not your fault. " I glanced over a bit, she was already tearing up at the sight of Renji being injured. Maybe she was close friends with him too. Kira then turned to me after speaking with Hinamori.

" Oh you must be the first ryoka that came here...Um...Tanaka Reimei was it? " I nodded, mustering up a small friendly smile to go with it.

" Hai, Izuru fukutaicho-san. "

" Oh that's too formal..." He said, a small blush creeping on his face. I could tell he wasn't the type of person to be addressed so highly of, " Just Kira..." I nodded, chuckling a bit at his flustered face.

" Hai, Kira-san. "

" Have you contacted the 4th squad relief unit yet? " asked Hinamori.

" Hai, they should be back with more medics..." A spark of another presence was what I felt before someone had shown up behind us.

" There's no need for that..." Kuchiki-taicho had decided to show up, towering over all of us in a very intimidating way, " Take him to a holding cell.."

" But- " Hinamori was utterly shocked as was Kira, " Abarai-kun fought the ryoka by himself and is badly injured! He-! "

" I don't want to hear any excuses. Him fighting alone means defeat and that is unacceptable. I do not need a fool who can't comprehend that. Take him away immediately. " With that said, Byakuya turned on his heel and started to walk off. I kept silent at the emotionless speech he just gave us, knowing too well that his actions are not to be questioned. But apparently, Hinamori had thought otherwise. Her hands slowly curled into a fist and she made a step towards Byakuya's retreating back.

" Please wait just a minute! Are you saying that Abarai-kun-! " She was cut off by Kira silencing her, Byakuya turned around to glare down at the two. Kira, sensing the intense glare, bowed deeply.

" My deepest apologies.. " Hinamori glanced at her friend and soon afterwards, bowed down deeply as well while muttering her apologies. As if satisfied, Byakuya turned to leave once more. Standing up straight, Kira almost let out a sigh relief before turning to Hinamori.

" Hinamori-kun, I think it's best if we followed orders... "

" But-! "

" Hinamori-san, you are of lower class to Byakuya-taicho. Disobeying a captain's order is disobeying your superiors. " I pointed out sternly, even though I was rather acquainted with Byakuya, I still knew that once he gave an order as a taicho, there's no questioning it. Especially coming from someone as noble as him. His word was law. Hinamori slightly glared at me, still stubborn as to why she had to take her friend to a holding cell. I brushed it off, knowing too well that the girl already had a naive mind to begin with.

" Oooh, scary. " Turning towards a corner, standing there was none other than Ichimaru Gin. A wide grin was still plastered on his face, makes me think if its permanent.

" Still, what'd he have to talk like that fer? " He made his way to us, glancing at me he added, "And Reimei-chan, you're already knowing yer place even if yer not part of a division yet. You're a natural to take orders ne? "

" ...I don't take orders, I know what's right to do and not to go against..." I seethed, he only grinned at me more which annoyed me. He walked up casually and stood in front of us, hands hidden in his sleeves.

" But Reimei-chan does have a point...6th captain-san is pretty scary. But don't ya'll worry, I'll make sure the 4th squad unit reach here. "

" Really? " Asked Hinamori, surprised that Ichimaru was doing such a generous thing. I on the other hand, find the offer a little too good to be true. He's up to something, not only do I feel it, I know it.

" Really. " He replied almost too sincerely. Now I know that this was all an act, as if to get Hinamori's trust or something. I took a glance at the naive fukutaicho, she better watch her back.

" Come wit' me, Izuru... "

" Hai. " Answered Kira as the two walked off.

" Thank you for your help..." bowed Hinamori. A moment of silence was shared between us, I crossed my arms casually and let out a breath.

" Hinamori-san, you shouldn't be that naive..."

" What do you mean..? Tanaka-san? " She looked at me curiously, completely oblivious to the atmosphere I was talking about when Ichimaru showed up. It was to say, completely suspicious.

" What I meant was-.." I was cut short when I felt what was probably the third presence to show up that night.

" Wow, freakin' Abarai sure got himself messed up good..." I turned towards the snowball that decided to show up all of a sudden, a bored look on my face while Hinamori jumped a feet high.

" Hitsugaya-kun! " she eeped out as she turned to her childhood friend.

" Hey, hey. I'm a captain too ya know. You sure you wanna address me like that? " He asked questioningly with his arms crossed.

" That's not the point! Why do you captains go sneaking around without making a sound?! And what are you doing here, Hitsugaya-kun?! " Hinamori complained, throwing her arms up in the air to emphasize her point. I huffed out a breath of air, blowing my front bangs in the process. After a while, I secretly shunpoe'd away. Jumping from roof to roof, I landed a fair distance away from the small building. I decided to take a stroll for a while, hoping to get my thoughts sorted out.

" Face it, you're jealous. " Always leave Tsukuyomi to get straight to the point.

" So what..."

" Wow, you admitted it? Just like that?"

" So, I can't deny it...And I'll ONLY admit it to myself.."

" There's no law that says a person can't be jealous. " Came Tsumetai Kaze voice, hoping to make me feel better but apparently it didn't really help.

" I know..It's just that...It's not me. I feel horrible for being jealous, especially over Hinamori because she's much more closer to Hitsugaya. I mean what does it matter? We're friends too right? "

" Aha, there's a difference between being a childhood friend to a friend you've met recently. And it's obvious Matsumoto is right, you're crushing on him. With all this tied up, what does it equal? "

" I sorta know where this is going Tsukuyomi..." It's true, I did know where this was going. With my slowly developing feelings for Hitsugaya, the chances of him liking me back is slim, waaay slim. I've only known the guy for a few weeks, it's nothing compared to how long Hinamori had known him. Just the thought of it made my blood boil, Tsukuyomi's personality was starting to rub off on me. Like how the first time I had came across him. Always calling me a pathetic little shinigami who wouldn't wield him in a million years. Well, guess I begged a differ. I hate to admit it though, that's exactly how I feel right now towards Hinamori.

" You know it's not safe to walk around late at night, especially if there are ryoka's in Seireitei now." A voice said pleasantly. I immediately got into a fighting stance, searching around the dark corners for the voice. A figure emerged from the shadows, it turned out to be the 5th division captain, Aizen Sosuke. My fingers lingered on Tsumetai Kaze's hilt, Aizen slowly made his way towards me but stopped a few feet away. A carefree smile plastered on his face.

" Tanaka Reimei, is it? " I slightly glared at him, his smile reminded too much of Ichimaru's; they make it seem like they were up to no good.

" Aizen-Taicho, I'm quite confident in my swordsmanship to be out walking at night. " I replied cooly, slowly taking my hand away from the hilt. Aizen chuckled a bit.

" I'm sure you are but after all, a female walking around late at night is never a good thing. Who knows what might be out there. " He took a step and took a hold of my chin, " Especially a fairly attractive female. " I slapped his hand away, that'll probably leave a red mark there the next morning.

" With all do respect, Aizen-Taicho, I can handle myself fine. " I brushed passed him without a bow of respect, " Good night, Taicho..." After that I shunpoe'd off to the 10th division building. Not only did Ichimaru freaked me out but also Aizen, I just know those two are up to something. Their grins just made me shiver, I'll just have to watch my back from now on. I finally made it to Matsumoto's room, she was once again, passed out on her bed, snoring. I shook my head, a small smile on my face. Making my way around her, I headed to the wardrobe and pulled out a white sleeping robe. Quickly changing in the bathroom, I came out and layed down on an extra futon and fell asleep almost instantly.

Ooooo Someone's jealous X) I wonder where this will take her. Plz R&R and i'll try to get bak to this as soon as i can! Thankss!!