A man in love

Isane ran between the stretchers, running out of breath, out of reiatsu and out of patience. The 9th had obviously decided to have a fight with the 11th and of course, Hisagi's division had ended up with the most wounded. However, the acting captain had the stupidity of fighting against Zaraki Kenpachi, so Unohana taicho had run there to take care of the 11th, leaving her own fukutaicho to deal with the 9th.

"So tell me, why did you decide to go against Zaraki-taicho? You know he's still out of your league." Isane asked Hisagi, while she checked his temperature.

"I may not be strong enough, but I have the heart to beat him. Besides, I did leave him enough to remember me by." He staid in a stuck-up manner.

Oh, yeah, Isane thought, the 9th and the 11th pathologically hate each other's guts. It's wasn't because of some old rivalry, but it was more or less Zaraki that exposed Tousen as a traitor. The former captain of the 9th had pursued Kenpachi as a monster, while he was the true devil in disguise.

She sighed-of all the divisions, the 9th had suffered the most out of Aizen's treachery and the Winter War, and of all the people, perhaps Hisagi had been the most hurt. Sure enough, everybody had always doubted Ichimaru Gin, and even Aizen had been too good to be true, but Tousen had preached equality and justice all along, and even in his dying hours he was still maintaining that he was acting for the sake of people's wellbeing.

No wonder the 9th was so messed up-they had been so brainwashed they couldn't know what to do without their leader. Hisagi had been trying to pull them together, but he was crushing-slowly, but surely. She remembered Yachiru's theory, about Hisagi being gay. Ok, the shock of his captain's treachery had been greater than the others, but Isane was actually starting to wonder if there wasn't a grain of truth in what she said. Kira had turned his back on the emotional trauma ages ago, and even Hinamori was beginning to go back to her old self, but Hisagi still seemed shaken up.

Isane looked at him and felt like smacking him-there was this man, so proud and smart once, now turned into a half-assed pile of flesh. Cut flesh, she corrected herself, because Zaraki had sure pulled a number on him. Ok, so maybe smacking wouldn't help much, but surely a talk wouldn't hurt.

"Hisagi-san, I can see it hurts." She said and he looked at her, surprised "I see it may be hard for you, with the war and the treachery and all, but you mustn't give up."

"Wha…" he blinked

"I understand how you feel, even though I haven't experienced it myself, and I can imagine what it must be like trying to make something out of nothing. I'm not sure if fixing the broken pieces is better than building it all over again, but whatever it is, you mustn't risk your life, or the lives of your men, in silly quarrels."

"What quarrels? We were just having a training drill and things got a little out of hand." Hisagi tried to defend himself. And what was that stuff about broken pieces-why, was she talking about pottery all of the sudden? "Isane, I really don't get it."

"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with it." She patted his shoulder after putting the final touches on his bandage. "After all, it's absolutely natural, some people are just different than others. But in time, you're sure to find someone better. Until then, try not to kill yourself!"

She ran off to help others, congratulating herself on a job well done, and leaving Hisagi in a more confused state than he had ever been in before.

Hitsugaya was irritated. One would think that with a vice-captain like Matsumoto having a low tolerance limit was absolutely normal, but in truth he was actually quite immune to people's stupidity.

Now, however, the Kuchiki elders were going on his nerves like a tribe of chimpanzees high on bananas. Just in two days he had to fight off ten assassins and chase away twice as many spies, sent to gather information about her so called 'conspiracy to seduce Kuchiki-sama'. Thanks to the little hell butterfly in Yukishiro's collar, he could make sure she was alright in the 4th, and he managed to exchange messages with Kuchiki Midori, getting updates on the current situation.

The assassins sent in the real world had been captured and there was no danger to the units dispatched in Karakura. Although Midori assured him that Byakuya was going to be notified as soon as he returns, Hitsugaya was still uneasy because the elders were not stupid. Not stupid as in they could suppose that Matsumoto may not be the perpetrator and therefore set their sites on other innocent fukutaichos.

He was still avoiding Hinamori, although now it was beginning to seem vital to talk to her frankly about the entire situation. Not only was the threatening the lives of her fellow shinigami with her reckless machinations to become captain, but she was also causing a serious problem in his life. Again because of Yukishiro's collar, he had gathered from Matsumoto's monologues that she had witnessed that "kiss" (aka. Torture) Hinamori had inflicted on him without his permission and she was thinking that it had been a confession of love.

In short, Hitsugaya was finding himself in a big mess. He had to find a way to make the Kuchiki elders think that they were wrong and that there was no danger to their precious Byakuya-sama falling into the wrong commoner hands (just the thought of those highly bastards made him wish that Byakuya got married to the lowliest of women in Rukongai and had a whole football team with her). He also had to find Hinamori and tell her that; 1-he was not interested in her whatsoever and 2-that she had to achieve captaincy the hard way. And last but not least-as soon as Matsumoto came back in the office, he had to explain to her that it was all a misunderstanding and that there was nothing going on between Momo and him.

Usually, Hyorinmaru would be bugging him with the question "Why?". Yes, why did it bother him that Rangiku thought he and Momo were…a couple? It was none of her business. But the ice dragon knew the truth, the truth Hitsugaya was starting to acknowledge-he was in love with her. No matter how you looked at it, he felt drawn to her and he couldn't imagine how his life would be without her hugs and laughter.

Because Matsumoto would never go after a taken man. No matter what they said, she was not that kind of woman. And Toushiro, quite frankly, couldn't imagine what her attitude towards him would be if she turned cold. No more smiles….no more laughter…no more skipping paperwork…no more hugs.

Just for the record, Hitsugaya hated it when she didn't skip paperwork.

Having done the last of their winter preparations, the Kurosaki family went on to enjoy the last month of summer. Isshin and Yuzu couldn't leave the clinic, but Ichigo and Rukia decided to go out with their gang to go bowling. Karin, having nothing to do came with them.

"Oi, Yuzu, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Ichigo called as he was putting his shoes on.

"I'm fine, Ichi-nii." Yuzu looked up from the table where, under the pretext of teaching her ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement), Byakuya was actually offering her flowers. You couldn't deny that the noble had some style in doing his courting-he knew how to do it in secret from the girl's brother.

"Who'd have thought Byakuya was into flower arrangement." Ichigo mused as the three went out on the street and headed for the bowling alley.

"Don't say it so casually, Ichigo!" Rukia scolded him "Nii-sama is well acquainted with the fine arts, and there is nothing wrong in practicing ikebana. It's an old art, and he's had the privilege of being taught by the very founda…I mean one of the best in this sphere." She managed to correct herself before Karin noticed.

"Yeah, well, it is sophisticated." The girl ran her fingers through her shabby hair "But to me ikebana's not a man's job."

"Exactly. That's too…"

"Ichigo…" Rukia's stare could tell volumes, but the basic concept was: 'Dare call Nii-sama a pansy and I'll make your life a living hell.'. Thankfully, Ichigo got the message almost instantly.

"Of course, everyone's got their hobbies."

And hobbies like bowling had their benefits-sitting in the twilight of the alley, tucked comfortably in a bench, you could hold the one you love sweet nothings and share secrets. Or, in Ichigo's case, fight.

"Damn it, midget, I'm sure he's up to something!"

"Nii-sama is a nice person, Ichigo, what do you mean?"

"I mean he spends too much time at home. He patrols for two hours, 'looks for a job', and then spends the whole day around the clinic." Thankfully, the two had stepped out of their bodies, leaving their gikons to play with Ishida, Orihime, Chad, Tatsuki and Karin. The Quincy was deliberately losing so that he could make Orihime happy, and the busty girl laughed happily every time the ball didn't jump over to the other alley.

"Nii-sama shows his thanks to your father for putting him in, it's just a role, Ichigo."

"Look at me in the eye and tell me if you could spend so much time around my dad without freaking out." At this line, Rukia hesitated.

"Well…Nii-sama is the strongest of the Kuchiki-clan…"

"I'm telling you, he's up to something. Maybe he knows."

"About what? Ichigo, honestly, there is nothing wrong, or shameful in your house that could be the object of Nii-sama's inquest."

"Oh, so you do say there is something, but it's not worth the trouble?"

"Don't put words in my mouth, what I'm saying is that Nii-sama won't threat anyone in your family, he wouldn't. And just for the record, he's not so childish as to blackmail you because of your boxers."

"What….what boxers?"

"Stop playing dumb, you know what I mean." She crossed her arms triumphantly "There is nothing for him to find out and be upset about."

"Oh yeah?" There was a slight smirk on Ichigo's lips as he drew closer to her. "And what if he finds out I do this…" he wrapped his arm around her "And this…" he pulled her into his embrace "And this…" then he kissed her "…To his sister?"

Rukia smiled against his lips. "Yes…we definitely can't have him know about it."

On the alley, Orihime smiled at Ishida while looking back.

"Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san look great together, right?"

"Yeah…" he handed her the bowling ball "But let's focus on the game."

Ukitake wasn't sure if this wasn't turning into a hobby-going to Nanao's quarters, where Nemu had temporarily stationed herself, at least two hours before their designated patrolling time, sit together on a bench and talk until they had to set off, and stay up long after their duty was done. But so it was, and he found himself more and more fascinated by her.

Two days were up, and now it was time for their third night shift. She spoke about some interesting research she had read about, and he listened with one ear, while thinking about the smoothness of her skin and the silky feel of her hair. Her braid was, as always, thick and tight, and he was itching to undo it and let her bangs flow out freely. No, seriously, how could she stand this hairdo when her skull probably hurt like hell?

Nevertheless, walking around Rukongai at night wasn't an easy job and it was quite dangerous to space off for a long time. He kept a hand on his zanpakuto's hilt and stayed on guard while trying to maintain a carefree conversation. Nemu did likewise, and overall they were prepared for any physical attack that might occur to them.

But they weren't prepared for a mental attack, and when Ukitake fell on his knees, coughing and choking on blood, Nemu could only search for his medicine and administer it the same way she had a few days ago. But instead of a relief, the treatment caused Jushiro's face to flush red and him to pass out on the street.

Nemu, however, wasn't the kind to lose her cold-blood to any situation. After checking his pulse and making sure he was stable, she picked him up and carried him into a nearby building (at the moment, they were in a district that had been deserted since the winter war). Thankfully, the rooms of that house were still whole, and there were even some rags she could use as a futon for Jushiro.

She laid out a bed for him and checked his vitals again-he was fine, but his temperature was varying from hot to cold, and he was on his way of getting down with one hell of a fever. She mentally went through all the things she was advised to do in such situations (omitting her father's-leave the idiot to die), and remembered that in some occasions it was best to hold the person and let his body get some heat from yours. Without much hesitation, she pulled off his haori and shikahusho, as well as hers, and after covering them both up with some rags, wrapped her arms around him and held him until he finally calmed down.