A/N: Wow, there's a lot of dialogue in this chapter. Or at least it seems like more than usual. Sorry it took so long to update, I've been busy and haven't been able to come one here for a while lol. I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

People might feel this chapter was a little weird, but it's meant to be that way so don't get edgy, just give it time. Now get to reading it! Hahaha

The sky was dark and the moon was high, casting black shadows all over the Seireitei. Two patrollers walked, unaware of a cloaked figure slinking through the streets, it's cloak almost as dark as the shadows surrounding them. It jumped and slithered down the street making no noise and leaving no trace behind but a stirring of the air.

Two guards stood as sentinels at the beings destination, the small white circular building that resided in the middle of a large pool with a lone entrance. The being smirked, slipping off it's vantage point atop the wall surrounding it and landed with a soft thud onto the waterway.

The guards jumped as the figure seemed to materialize in front of them.

"Identify yourself!" One of the guards shouted, stepping forward and taking a defensive stance.

The figure began to approach the guarded entrance, walking up the walkway.

"He said stop! Stop and identify yourself!" The second guard shouted.

The figure showed no sign of heeding the guard's words. The defenders ran at the cloaked rebel with their weapons raised once it became apparent that their demands wouldn't be met. The last thing they saw was a wide grin under hidden eyes.

The Head Captain sat at his desk, filing his already completed paperwork. The morning was young and getting his paperwork done allowed him the chance to do his monthly re-plaiting of his beard.

He filed his last piece of paperwork when there was a knock on his door, a rather urgent sounding one at that.

"Head Captain Yamamoto?"

"Yes, Sasakibe?"

The old mans lieutenant slid the door open and bowed respectively. "Sir, I come with some news of a disturbing nature."

"Then spit it out Sasakibe."

"There was an attempted breach on our barracks last night! Fortunately, the perpetrator never gained access. But there was also another attempted breach"

"Sasakibe." Yamamoto said in a warning tone.

"Somebody tried to break into the Central 46."

The head captain remained still, his face showing no sign of emotion in comparison to his clearly anxious lieutenant. And then, eventually, the aged man opened his nearly shut eyes. "Call a captain's meeting."

Toushiro woke with a start, unsure as to why. He looked down and saw Ichigo groaning and moaning about the smaller man waking him up as he pulled the covers over his head. The tenth division captain shook his head at his lover and climbed out of the bed. It was about time they got up anyway. He grabbed the quilt cover and dragged it off of the strawberry and out of the room wit him, laughing at his evilness and Ichigo's sighs of frustration.

Toushiro dropped the blankets on the sofa and set about making coffee, rearranging his bed kimono as the water boiled. It had twisted somewhat and was becoming uncomfortable. Ichigo shuffle out of the bedroom minutes later, rubbing his eyes as he sent a cold glare in the others direction. The orange haired boy stretched, his pajamas bottoms riding low on his hips, much to Toushiro's enjoyment, before he noticed the blanket. He picked it up and wrapped it tight around his body and collapsed sideways onto the comfortable couch.

"Lazy ass." The smaller man laughed.

"Bitch ass motherfucker." Ichigo yawned.

Toushiro was about to respond, but stopped as someone banged loudly on the door.

"Caaaaaaaaptain!" Came Rangiku's muffled sing-song voice, "Are you there?"

"Come in."

She opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind her.

"The head captain's called for a captain's meeting. It's due to start in half an hour."

"Another captain's meeting so soon?" Ichigo asked sounding thoroughly irritated as he popped his head up over the back of the sofa, surprising the woman with his presence.

"Ichigo, you scared me! I couldn't even feel your spiritual pressure." Ichigo looked smug as she looked between the two men. "So I bet you's two had a good night last night," she winked.

"That's none of your business." Toushiro said coldly, fixing her with a withering glare. His mind, however, was wandering back to the night before. Sure, they fooled around a little but apart from that it was a relatively quiet night. But Toushiro had woke up halfway through the night to find Ichigo not in bed.

He was snapped out of his revelations by Matusmoto snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Don't slip into blissful memories captain, you need to get ready." Matsumoto giggled.

"That wasn't what I was thinking about!" Toushiro blushed.

"Whatever," Matsumoto then turned to Ichigo. "Momo is no doubt looking for you. I'll get in touch with her then we'll all go to the meeting together."

Ichigo nodded as he stood, attempting to take a step forward, only to fail and fall face first in to the floor. The blanket was so tightly wrapped around him that he couldn't separate his legs or use his hand to save himself.

"Fuck my life," he grumbled into the floor as Toushiro shook his head and Rangiku burst into a fit of laughter that lasted until the captains were ready to leave the barracks.

The two lieutenants walked ahead together as they made their way to the meeting, Matusmoto reveling in telling Momo about Ichigo's 'little trip' while Ichigo and Toushiro walked behind. For some reason, the atmosphere between them seemed thick and tense.

"Where were you last night?"

Ichigo frowned at Toushiro in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I woke up last night and you weren't there."

"Oh, I don't know," he scratched his head, "I was probably using the bathroom or getting something to eat. Yuzu used to say I woke her up at night getting something to eat but I could never remember it. What does it matter?"

"I was just curious."

"Well it wasn't all that interesting was it."

"You're a freak."

"You can talk," Ichigo said, shoving the smaller man slightly.

"Obviously, otherwise how could we communicate?"

"Stop being a smart-ass."

"Put your handbags away boys and have your lover's tiff later, we're here!" Rangiku said a little too loudly for their liking.

"I've called you all here today with some grave news." The head captain started, "There was attempted break-in's on both the first division and the Central 46 during the night." The silence in the room after this statement was deafening. "We can't be certain that the vandalism on the twelfth division is connected to this, however, it is safe to presume they are. It appears we aren't just dealing with a couple of rebellious soul reapers. Someone in the Soul Society is seeking something."

Captain Ukitake stepped forward, "If you will, Head Captain. The only likely reason for anyone to break into the Central 46 at this point would be for the Daireishokairō. The amount of data and information stored there is phenomenal."

"So basically, they want information on something?" Zaraki asked.

"That would seem to be the situation."

"Then why would they try to break into your division Yama-jii?" Kyoraku asked, all seriousness for a change.

"That I do not know."

"So…what do we do now?" Renji asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

The head captain sighed, "I'm afraid that there isn't much we can do. Double up patrols, the second anything out of the ordinary occurs, captains and squads should be alerted and captains and lieutenants should be ready to respond at anytime. There's no doubt that this person will strike again and I would like it to be their last."

"And what if we catch whoever's doing this?" Ichigo asked.
"I give permission to use your Zanpakuto if it becomes necessary, but i would rather catch this person without violence."
The congregation nodded before filing out of the room yet again. Ichigo joined in the mutterings of the crowd as they speculated about the Head Captains insinuations that the perpetrator would indeed strike again.
"They always attack at night."
"So maybe would should just double up patrols at night? We don't have the manpower to do it all day."
"We could just put the academy kids on patrol?" Kenpachi said, only to be looked at in disdain.
"We can't do that, what if this person is dangerous?" Akane spoke, sounding completely shocked.
"It could be a little work experience!"
"Don't be so stupid, you great lug." Mayuri scoffed.
"Yeah?" Kenpachi asked violently, "You're the smart guy, you come up with an idea!"
Ichigo shook his head, taking a step out of the group, Toushiro to follow suit.
"Those people are acting like idiots." The strawberry said in a low tone.
"They're just trying to come up with ideas." Toushiro whispered back.
"All they're doing is arguing. I can't be bothered with it. I have to train my squad, I'll see you later."
Toushiro didn't even have time to say anything before Ichigo was stalking away. The man frowned. Ichigo had been acting weird all morning.
"Momo!" Ichigo shouted back, "Help me with the training session today."
"Yes Captain!" She responded, running after her captain.

"What the hell is wrong with you all!"
The squad looked on in confusion. They were trying their best but they just couldn't meet the standards the man was trying to set. It was only their second training session after all.
"It's a simple thing to do! Practice it, I want you all to be experts at it by tomorrow. I have better things to do with my time that mother you all." Ichigo growled, shooing the group away.
Momo approached him, her face set in a stern expression. "Ichigo can I talk to you?"

"Captain Kurosaki," he corrected.
Momo frowned but nodded anyway, "Captain, I believe you're being to hard on them."
"Why? Because they can't do it? I have every right to be annoyed by them."
"Yes, but it doesn't mean you have to treat them like that!"
"Lieutenant Hinamori, I wouldn't have to treat them like this if you had managed to keep them on a tighter leash during the absence of a captain for the squad. Maybe you should stop having a go at me and start looking at where you went wrong."
Momo's jaw dropped, Ichigo had never spoken to her like that before. Ever. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever heard him talk to anyone like that. She watched as the man walked away, in the complete opposite direction of the office and assumed he was going out. She made her way to the office, intent on doing her paperwork.
'Maybe he's just stressed. I'll do my paperwork while he calms down so he has no reason to get annoyed at me again.'

Momo looked up at the sound footsteps in the hallway outside. There was a knock on the door before it slid open and Toushiro stepped inside.
"Hi Momo, is Ichigo around?"
"No, he's been gone for a few hours."
"Oh." The captain looked around, noticing the pile of untouched paperwork on the man's desk. "I heard about his training session this morning. The members are unhappy at their treatment apparently."
"Yeah, I had a word with him about it afterwards. He got very angry at me."
Toushiro looked shocked. "He did?"
Momo nodded, "I think he's stressed. It must be difficult adjusting to being a captain, especially when he wasn't even in the Gotei 13 before he became one."
"Yeah," Toushiro replied absent mindedly. "I think I'll go find him."
He walked out of the barracks and onto the street, looking in both directions. Rangiku had been right that morning about him being better at hiding his spiritual pressure. He couldn't feel him anywhere. Taking his initiative, he made off in the direction of the Kuchiki manor.

Where the hell was he? Toushiro had visited the Kuchiki manor and the ninth division. Both Renji and Rukia had seen him earlier but he had told them both to leave him alone. He had checked the Senkai Gate but he hadn't passed through to the World of the Living either. Toushiro appreciated he wanted to be alone, but he still didn't feel comfortable having no idea where he was. As he turned the corner, he spotted Akane meandering down the street ahead.
"Captain Katenashi!"
The girl turned, waving when she spotted the white haired captain. She stopped, allowing for him to join her before continuing her walk.
"Can I help you Toushiro?" She asked with smile.
"Have you seen Ichigo around?" He asked, too tired to correct her in the way she addressed him.
"No, I haven't. Why?"
"No reason in particular, it's just nobody knows where he is." He sighed in frustration. It was starting to get on his nerves how the man had just disappeared.
"Maybe he wants to be alone?"
"Yeah, I gathered that."
"Then maybe you should stop looking for him," she suggested, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder, "He'll come to you when he's feeling better."
The man nodded, looking up and checking the suns position in the sky. It was starting to become late in the day. If he took Akane's advice and stopped looking, he could wait at his quarters for Ichigo to find him. Feeling less anxious, he turned to the woman with a smile. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it" She laughed, patting him on the back. "Now if you would excuse me, I have an appointment with Captain Kyoraku."
"Of course," Toushiro nodded appreciatively, leaving the girl as she walked into the eighth division.
He carried on walking, making his way to his own quarters. Feeling unusually tired, he changed into his bed clothes and made his way to bed. Ichigo would most likely wake him up when he arrived, so he didn't mind too much.

MisaxMisa: Ichigo is being a big grouch today -.-

Ichigo: What's that supposed to mean?

MisaxMisa: What do you think? You've been really mean to Momo

Ichigo: Shut your damned mouth woman.
MisaxMisa: See what I mean? :'(