Genre: Humor
Rating: K
Characters: Hitsugaya, Ukitake
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Sadly.
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It was going to be his first captains meeting and Hitsugaya was anxious, though he wouldn't admit it. He had no idea what to expect. How would the older captains react to him? Would they accept him or would they sneer at him and call him a little kid in way over his head? 'There's no sense in dwindling,' he thought and walked through the door.
Three hours later, he was ready to climb the walls. He had to stand at attention for three whole hours! He was never good at standing at attention for any length of time. He could run or fight for hours on without getting tired, but standing motionlessly just made his feet ache terribly. He was slowly approaching his level of tolerance. And the sotaichou was droning and droning about the responsibilities of his new rank. He had yet to say something he didn't hear or read before.
He really, really wanted to scream in frustration. But around him the other captains were standing quietly, looking perfectly content and interested in Yamamoto's speech, so he schooled his features and suffered silently. He couldn't let them outdo him in something they were doing so effortlessly. He was supposed to be their equal now. There was no way he'd do something as childish as fidget on his first day on the job. No, he had to prove everybody that he wasn't a kid and preserve through the torture.
Finally, after another hour, the formalities were finished and they were allowed to move from their spots and greet their new peer personally. It wasn't as bad as he had feared, but it wasn't as good as he had hoped either. He answered their questions politely and added a couple of pleasantries.
Then he was talking with Ukitake, the sickly taichou of the Thirteenth division, and the man seemed kind and friendly enough, even though he had thrust a bag of candy into his arms, which had been utterly humiliating. He finally dared to ask the one question that had been plaguing him ever since the beginning of the meeting.
"Pardon me, Ukitake-taichou, why are there no chairs in the meeting room? The fukutaichou meeting room does have them, then why not the taichou?"
"That has a simple answer," the senior captain replied. "Did you hear Genryuusai-sensei's speech?"
"Yes," he confirmed. He didn't understand why Ukitake was asking him this. There was no way he could have missed the boring lecture.
"There you have it," Jyuushiro smiled. "It's very hard to fall asleep while standing upright."