Author: Davan

Story Title: The Wooing of Hinamori Momo

Summary: Hinamori's eyes are finally opened to what she has been missing.
Warnings: Contains spoilers past the anime!

Chapter Two

Coward! Chicken! Sorry excuse of a vice-captain!' She ranted at herself as she worked her way down the corridor towards her captain's office. She new Hitsugaya would get suspicious of her constant retreats soon enough if she had been him she would have already been asking. In fact she was surprised he hadn't just casually strolled by and asked if she thought she smelled, or something equally ridiculous.

She was such a mess!

It wasn't like she hadn't had to work for years to be able to look herself in the eye and not wonder if there was something, anything, she could have done to change Aizen's mind. And even longer for her to realize that he had used her the whole time and that there was simple nothing she could do about that.

Then there was the whole lets push everyone away because your not worthy of friends right now stage she had gone through. It had been the shortest of all the stages she had gone through because she had quickly found out how hard it was to function without a support base. She had pushed so hard against Hitsugaya tried so hard to take him out of her life however, she was amazed that he spoke to her at all anymore, much less causally drop by to question why she is being broody again.

And on top of that she was attracted to him!

And yes that admission had taken the longest to get to, it was like Kami-san coming back to bite her in the butt, hard.

She had done well over the last several years not to revel her growing attraction for her childhood friend. Really she had. They had worked on several projects together and she had never once slipped. She could laugh off her blush to being the sun, and she had always had a natural clumsiness to her which would come out at the worst moments, that enabled her to handle scrutiny when he would turn to her to find her in some awkward position.

'Oops I tripped,' worked wonders on her cover. That wasn't to say that some of them didn't know. Matsumoto knew for sure, because Hinamori had gone to her more once in tears because she simple didn't know the answer to all the questions that were constantly going through her head. Probably not the wisest thing to do, not when Matsumoto was concerned, but when the number of female Death Gods were limited, you took what you got. Rukia was still so totally enamored with Ichigo that they made her feel slightly sick at times and well… it had been narrowed down after several days of debate to Matsumoto.

She laughed humorlessly at herself. Poor Matsumoto, she was positive that she had never wanted to know that much about Hitsugaya. The strange expressions that had flittered across her face as she had confessed that she had fallen for her captain, and couldn't tell him because her stupid mistakes in the past… and because she was an idiot and was terrified of the lack of reaction she would receive.

That scared her the most, admitting she was way past the 'I like you stage' only to have that icy gaze never waver and then him to turn and walk out… she really didn't deserve much better. She had been horrible to him for such a long time, only in the last decade or so had they started to get back on good standing with each other. She just wasn't the Hinamori that he had worked so hard to protect when they had been younger, that had been the first revelation she had undergone with herself.

Matsumoto had, needless to say, laughed harder than she had really thought her confession had warranted. And it had only been her threat of never telling the women a thing again that had stopped her torrent of giggles.

That however, did not mean every time she passed her for a week that she didn't start to laugh again which would cause her to turn pink and wonder if the girl had been drinking again.

She did feel badly about missing today's meeting however. And she would probably have to deal with some teasing from any of the other vice-captains that she happened to come across. It was odd though, because Matsumoto had taken it upon herself to start checking in on her on her way to the meetings.

Today she must have forgotten.

Not that today's meeting had been overly important it was simply over what was going on with the captains recently, a practice that they had started after the demise of Aizen and Ichimaru, to ensure that if a vice-captain knew of anything suspicious they all knew and could work together to figure it out. And so once a week they reported on their captains movements.

She would have had nothing to report and the most in the last fifty or so years that they had worth discussing was when Renji had taken an interest in a young lady and they had all enjoyed following his progress with her through each other. Being an ex-vice captain himself and someone who they all highly respected most of them still felt comfortable enough with him to tease him.

But that still didn't explain why Matsumoto had not come and checked on her herself… sure she understood that today was the anniversary, but Hitsugaya had long ago stopped his daily checks on her.

"There you are!" was the only warning she had before she was grabbed and yanked into one of the many empty rooms that lined the hallways. She gave a startled yelp and whipped around to face her attacker, hand going to where her sword should have been… and came face to face with the remaining twelve vice-captains who were giving her highly amused looks, "Did you forget about something this morning Hinamori?" Yachiru demanded from her position on Kira's shoulder.

"The meeting?" She guessed her tone meek with resignation to whatever they had come up with to tease her about it, with all of them involved it was sure to be something entertaining, for them at least.

"No!" the smallest vice-captain chirped in amusement. "I think she forgot!" she informed Kira who tilted his head back to give her a nod of agreement.

"I think your right."

Hinamori smiled then, Yachiru had that effect on all of them. The little girl had grown, but only a small bit, it seemed she was quiet content to ride on her Ken-sans back and pretend to be a child still. Yet there was so much wisdom in that small body, it would only come out in the strangest situations but it was still there. All the vice-captains respected her if for nothing else than she was Zaraki Kenpachi's vice-captain.

"Why don't you remind her?" Matsumoto quipped, and the little girl beamed.

"The BALL!" She said overenthusiastically causing all everyone in the vicinity around her to wince, her high child's voice loud in the small room.

"The ball?" She repeated, a frown creasing her face… "what ball?" When had someone mentioned such and thing, and how had she forgotten?

Matsumoto laughed then. "It's not actually a ball but that is what Yachiru likes to call it so it's what we have dubbed it. The dance celebrating the 1,000th year of some such and such date, I really don't remember what it's exactly for but we, the vice-captains, have been asked to put it together."

Ah that was Matsumoto, remember that there was going to be an occasion to drink but not what the actual occasion was actually about. She smiled at her friend and received a quick wink in return.

"Matsumoto has offered to take care of decorations with Yachiru," Nemu Kurotshuchi, the vice-captain of the twelve division, said. "While Shuuhei, Marechiyo, and Tetsuzaemon are taking care of the food, what we need to know is if you can handle the invitation aspect with Kira, as they captains requested that invitations go out to the squads so that they felt special or something like that. If you two can design the invitation the rest of us will see they get to our respected divisions."

That was probably Captain Unohana 's doing, she mused, since she was the only one who would probably go out of her way to try to make her squadron feel like they were special and being included in something. It wasn't that the other captains didn't care; it was just that it wasn't worth the effort it would take. That and since the fourth division got picked on so hard it would be good for them to feel included.

Hinamori nodded, "That sounds easy enough." She smiled at Kira who returned it with a quick grin of his own.

Nemu smiled in return, "Good. I shall be the go between for each of squads and make sure that if you all need anything I can get it for you all."

This made sense because Nemu had access to things that the rest of them really didn't have, not to mention a freaky captain who could be counted on to scare anyone into giving up information.

Matsumoto peeked outside the room and nodded. "Okay its all clear. Now remember this is TOP secret, which means only discuss something with your captain if you have to." She smiled, "and it's a traditional 'ball' which means traditional dress. So try to get something before everyone else hits the streets running. Now we will meet this time here in two days time does anyone have any questions?"

Hinamori nodded, "do you want traditional invitations?"

"That would be nice, especially if you can tailor it to each division and their captain. That would really make the squads feel like they were being invited to something nice." Nano pointed out.

"Nano, can you make a list of all the squads for us? That way we know how much material we need to get and what we can expect to need for food and other things for the party?"

"Of course, I will get a copy to you and Kira by the end of the day."

Matsumoto motioned to the door. "If were going to get out of without anyone seeing us we need to get going. The captains will be heading out for their rounds in a few minutes."

"RIGHT!" Yachiru said punching her fist into the air. "Off we go!"

The vice-captains all exchanged quick conspirators grins before they all headed in their own various directions to go back to doing what they did best.

Keeping their captains out of trouble.

The next two weeks were filled will far more travel and talk between the vice-captains. As a group they had always tried to stay strong and had actually handled the problems with Aizen and Ichimaru better than the captains had. They had all leaned on each other and pulled together as a unit, minus Hinamori who had obviously been under much more strain than the rest of them. Accepting the new vice-captains had been as easy as breathing for them as was ensuring that they did what they could to make sure Hinamori recovered. After all they all shared the singular goal: protect their captain no matter what and stay alive while doing so.

That and they tended to stay away from the bouts of prejudice that their captains had towards one another. They were not at the top of the spiritual power chain though they were close, so they tended to group together, often times caught between their division and their duty to their captain. It was a system that worked well.

And all of them watched the current relations with Hinamori and Captain Hitsugaya with something akin to borderline stalking. Hinamori was unaware of their constant scrutiny or of Matsumoto's stories about her captain's current state of mind when it came to the shorter vice-captain. Some of them had them shaking their heads at the lack of communication between the two while other stories them rolling in laughter. Even Yachiru would ask questions and would singularly declare that he needed to get his act together and ask her out already!

Nor was she aware of the plans that were being made to ensure that at some point during the new festivities he was able to catch her alone… but that was for a later date.

But this, this was a new time for them. Something that they all pitched in with their singular talent each with their own opinion and ideas and they were all excited over they upcoming ball. In fact it was so infectious that even Hinamori was seen humming the tunes to the music that they had picked out and even once had been seen dancing in the hallway with Vice-Captain Kira on their way to a meeting singing some strange song that none of the current residents of the area had ever heard. (Needless to say Kira was getting glares from a certain disgruntled captain for the rest of the week… and amused looks from everyone else as he obviously tried to avoid the annoyed captain from then on out.)

Not to mention the hours upon hours that they were seen clustered up together in rooms with the windows drawn and only emerging when they simply had to go work on paperwork or report to their respective Captains. While others were in town going through various shop after shop; never to buy anything but asking plenty of questions that had the shop keepers in a tizzy to get them anything that thing that they needed, even if it was strange information that made no sense to them.

And then there was a flutter of couriers to and from that never really seemed to pause…

It seemed that whatever the vice-captains were working on, to the rest of the city, it was going to be worth paying attention to, and perhaps if they were lucky would give them something to talk about that would keep them entertained for a couple of weeks, something that had not been done since that strange blond man came and rescued the Princess Kuchiki.

"Hinamori!"

She looked up with a sigh, she was just about finished with the last invitation and then it was off to work on paperwork before her captain came looking for her. The invitations were all set and ready to go except for the last for Captain Ukitate, as the symbol for his name was giving her all sorts of trouble today and she was determined to finish it one way or another.

Whoever had asked her to this obviously thought she had a lot more patience than she actually did. Did they have any idea how long it took to do handwritten invitations for six out of the thirteen squads, did they?

"Hinamori I have been looking for you for the past hour!" Matsumoto declared her hand propped on her hips as she stared at the smaller women, one brow quirking up in close imitation of her captains… which she found highly disturbing, as she was certain Matsumoto would have been had she looked in the mirror just then.

"Why?" she questioned her brow furrowing down in thought, had she forgotten to do something that her captain had requested of her? Did something happen to one of the men in her division?

"We! And by we, I mean you and me! Do not have outfits for the ball!"

Hinamori blinked, and blinked again. "Its still several days off, I am sure we will have plenty of…."

"Exactly!" She was cut off quickly, "The invitations go out tomorrow if you're finished with them by then, and that means there is going to be a serious run on garments afterwards. If we want something that will fit us, make us look fabulous, and ensure that we don't look like anyone else, we simply must go shopping today!"

She paused mid stroke with her brush on the paper. "You sound like Rukia does when she has just discovered a new rabbit figure on something."

The blond women paused. "That is entirely beside the point. But since all the other girls, including Yachiru, have gotten their outfits already you are coming with me."

She stopped again, "Yachiru beat you to something?" she found the idea that the small pink haired girl had beaten the ever fashion conscious vice-captain highly amusing, and her expression must have given it away because Matsumoto scowled.

"You. Me. Shopping. Now!"

She sighed. No one argued with the women when she was in this mood. Even Hitsugaya was known to back down to the women when she was in this state of mind, though she doubted his excuse of 'she is just to much trouble to deal with when she is like this,' would work for her. "Fine, let me finish this last invitation and then we can go."

"Good," Matsumoto settled in a chair and crossed her arms in front of her. "I shall wait then, as I have already cleared this with your Captain and mine."

"You told them we were going shopping?"

She grinned, a wicked grin that was full of her own unique brand of mischievousness and she felt a brief moment of pity for the two male captains. "No, I did not."

She nodded and dipped her brush back into the ink. "Then I don't want to know."

"Thought so!"

Less than an hour later Matsumoto had them both in one of the many dress shops that were available to them outside of the protective walls that they lived in.

An hour after that and Hinamori who normally enjoyed shopping was totally wiped out and ready to call a halt for the day. It had not taken her long to find something that she had liked, though Matsumoto had had to loan her a small bit of money until she got her monthly stipend as it was just slightly out of her price range.

But the soft mint green Kimono had been absolutely perfect and even Matsumoto, whom she considered to be very knowledgeable on such things, had adored it. Declaring that the cut of it worked wonders for her slim figure and that it brought some much needed color to her cheeks, and she should buy it immediately.

She wasn't so sure about the needing more color comment, but she had felt completely feminine in the outfit and the soft material brought a sense of girlie satisfaction that her Death God robes simply just did not bring her on a day to day basis. So she had bought it. Even if she was going to be a bit poorer for the buying for a while, she had something to wear that she liked and had met approval at the same time, a rare feat indeed.

Matsumoto was not so easily satisfied.

Kimono after kimono was tried on by the curvy death god, and each and every one was caste aside. Hinamori was starting to wonder if Gin was going to come back from the dead with the amount of effort that she was putting into choosing the outfit.

"What are you looking for exactly?" she questioned for the hundredth time that day.

"I will know it when I see it!" the standard reply.

"Color preference?" for the eightieth time…

"Something that will make me stand out!"

She sighed, the same response as the last time, never mind that Matsumoto possessed the unique ability to stand out wherever she was. The cut of her death god robes, and good looks ensured that.

Which made her wonder if they had not stuck the gorgeous death god with Hitsugaya like they did because he was the only one young enough to ensure his hormones didn't finally give way and request a transfer so it was safe to go after the girl… then again the thought made her slightly green.

Sighing she held up a bright red kimono that had been hiding behind a green one… "What about this?"

Matsumoto paused, her eyes widening. "This has potential…"

Twenty minutes later they finally walked out of the store, Hinamori with an exhausted look on her face, and Matsumoto with a triumphant one.

"Shall I buy you dinner?" Matsumoto offered still preening over her chosen outfit by practically cuddling the bag.

"No thanks, I think I just want some tea and then bed after all of that." She pulled a face and sighed. "And maybe a good long soak in the bath, my feet are killing me." 'no thanks to the hundreds of shops you dragged me through…'

"Just don't take to long of one, or else you will fall asleep." she warned, "and the captains will be passing out the invitations tonight. That was their part of the bargain, we planned it and each captain had to pass out invitations, which was the one thing none of us really wanted to do." She grinned, "It also gets them involved, well sort of if you count beating on someone's door and bellowing their name like some of them will do being involved. So someone should be stopping by as they due their evening rounds."

"Ah, thank you for the warning." She shuddered at the potentially embarrassing idea of her captain knocking on her door while she was soaking in her bath tube.

"Welcome, see you tomorrow at the meeting, and make sure you don't forget!"

She waved distractedly at the girl before turning down the hall that would take her to her room, and her bed. The walk was a short one, and apparently the captains were making rounds and handing out the invitations because she heard several knocks and declarations of names as she moved along the hall way. She giggled when she heard Zaraki Kenpachi, bellowing for some poor soul to open his door so he could get this over with.

She moved on quickly her laughter dying down and leaving her with the silence of the courtyard. She peeked around one of the corners and spotted several bemused faces peering outside their own doors and shook her head.

If only she had that image capturing thing Rukia had shown her back when she had been with her and Ichigo.

"You look like you just faced a hundred hollows your own…"

She looked up, belatedly realizing she was too tired to jump which meant that she was also unable to stop her blush from creeping up her cheeks. "Aye, you follow Matsumoto on a mission and we shall see how tired you get."

Hitsugaya nodded, "Ah so going shopping this afternoon was a mission?" His brow quirked upwards in what would have been amusement on anyone else, she smiled with a shrug.

"I don't think I am in any danger of falling asleep standing upright but thank you for your concern."

"And here I was thinking after a mission like that even Byakuya would have felt pity for you."

"Oh good I looked dead…" The scowl slid from his face for the barest of moments his eyes softening in what Matsumoto had deemed his laughter long ago, and Hinamori felt herself sadden at the hidden expression. When had he forgotten how to laugh?

It was only then that she realized that he had been casually walking her to her room and they had reached the front entrance to her rooms. She paused in front of her door. She was utterly exhausted, much to tired to read his expression, her brain on ready to get out of her shoes and into the warmth of her bed, mode.

She paused to look at him, not certain what she wanted to ask, but positive that there was something she could say to him. 'A thank you for walking you to your room, even though you didn't realize that was what he was doing, would suffice, Hinamori.'

"I have your invitation…" He said interrupting her mental planning, and pulled a delicate looking piece of paper, it was neatly written in Kira's handwriting so she was going to assume he had finished all his to, thankfully. If she had been forced to help him finish them, she might have gone mad at the sight of undone invitations.

"Someone mixed them all up so all of us captains are walking all over the city at the moment… someone is going to end up with paperwork." The last bit of his sentence was finished with something that was almost next to glee, and she wondered how much of his he was going to push off on his poor vice-captain.

"Matsumoto was with me all afternoon."

"That is good, just don't mention that to your captain or he will give you more as well I am sure."

She stopped in front of her door, and paused for a moment before picking her words carefully. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?" She mentally applauded herself, 'Good something normal to ask him.'

He looked down then, reminding her of the height difference between them, her head had to angle upwards to meet his gaze and she felt slightly uncomfortable idly wishing for the days where she shouted down when she wanted his attention.

"I will have to decline, due to the fact that I have still many invitations to hand out…" he held up a fist full of delicate paper.

"Ah yes, well some other time then…" 'How did you forget he was passing out invitations?'

"If you don't forget how to make tea between now and say, day after tomorrow I will take you up on that. And here is your invitation." He handed it to her with a slight flourish.

"Thank you." 'Did he just say were going to have tea in two days?'

He nodded and turned to continue his rounds, "Just don't forget to RSVP." And then he was gone.

"RSVP?" She mused, confusion lighting her features. 'What does that mean?'

La Loba de Mibu – see I updated soon! And to tell you the truth Chapter Three should be coming along before to long as well. I am so glad that you like my 'different' plot, I was really rather worried about that.

anGeL Hinaningyou – you know its funny because I absolutely ADORE your fics so every time I get a review from you I like 'jump up and down' and do other crazy things I shall not admit to. I am so very glad you like it.

Kisa is dreaming – Yah! Another double review, you guys are spoiling me, really. I am very glad you like it!

Chibi Rebel – it is kind of sad isn't it? I have to admit that is because with all the trauma poor Hinamori went through I just cant see her snapping back immediately. The healing, for me at least, would have taken quiet a while to get through. In this story its just a very prolonged thing, but I hope this chapter is a bit lighter while holding with the first chapter.

Gina – here is chapter two ready and waiting for you!

The next chapter should be up in a couple of days as I already have it typed out, I am just edited and editing and editing right now, as I try to catch all my mistakes (not very good at finding my own, but hey, I think I have gotten better over the years.)

Thanks for reading!