Chapter 3.
Hey, thanks for all the reviews! You people rock XD. Hmm, I'm still deciding whether Shirou-chan or Shirou-sama sounds nicer. Anyway, please continue to read and review! .
Rangiku was not having a good time. She had a perfect opportunity to torment her captain by spreading around the who the mysterious pervert was. There was one catch though. Every time she got close to even hinting it, her captain would whisper under his breath the two forbidden words, "Dear Diary." That would successfully make her shut up and blush wildly.
So, the busty vice captain decided to obtain revenge the most painful way: through Hinamori. Her next advice would make her dear captain sit up all right. Oh yes, it would.
Hitsugaya stormed out from the captain's meeting. The old geezer had announced an official investigation to find out who the pervert in the bath house was to "ensure the safety of other women as the pervert may strike again". For crying out loud, he wouldn't dream of returning to the fateful hot springs. As for "striking again", nobody had to worry because that one incident was enough to last him a lifetime.
However, he had to pretend to be as enthusiastic in the investigation as the other captains. (Indeed, the most captain most happy with this operation was Zaraki Kenpachi. He had already begun to plot various creative ways to dispose of the pervert during the meeting which made Hitsugaya incredibly nervous.)
"I suggest make a maze and let one of the captains chase the pervert around the maze," Zaraki had said "I will willingly sacrifice myself and be the one to punish this shameless shinigami out of the sense of justice I have." A lot of loud coughs and murmurs of, "Yeah, right," could be heard in the meeting room.
Hitsugaya felt apprehensive. It was not that he feared the eleventh division captain. It was just that he, like most shinigamis, made a point to avoid Zaraki unless it was official. The guy was insane! Throughout, his years of being captain, Hitsugaya had learned not to mind blood but he never learned to love it, like Zaraki had.
To top it all, Zaraki was still annoyed at Hitsugaya for causing trouble for Unohana.
"What on earth have I done to deserve this?" Hitsugaya thought, moodily.
Hinamori was basking in all the sympathy she received from her fellow shinigamis. Each time she told her tale, it seemed to get more and more dramatic. Somehow, a twenty
foot zanpakuto pressed into her neck had somehow weaved itself into Hinamori's revelation.
Sadly, no matter how tragic her story was, she never got to arouse any sympathy or protectiveness from Hitsugaya. That's why she tried to make her experience in the hot springs as creative as possible, so that Shirou-sama will care about her again.
Hitsugaya tried to avoid Hinamori since the hot springs incident. The reason was that each time he looked at her he would blush furiously, remembering where his hand was that time.
As usual, Hinamori would once again go to Rangiku for advice. That girl never does learn her lesson. Rangiku, of course was delighted. This may be her chance for her revenge!
Hitsugaya sighed. It was nearly 3 a.m and he still hasn't got the chance to sleep yet. His amount of paperwork increased alarmingly and his baka vice captain wasn't helping much either. She left early; claiming that she had a headache which Hitsugaya was nearly sure was false but he was much too tired to argue with her. She had the annoying tendency to make her excuses and arguments extremely logical when he got frustrated.
"Damn that Matsumoto," Hitsugaya grumbled "She'd make one good attorney." He had learned what an attorney was during his last visit to Ichigo's place. Renji had broken Ichigo's window and Ichigo threatened to sue him. One question lead to another and soon Hitsugaya proudly added another word to his vast vocabulary.
Suddenly, he sensed Hinamori's spirit power outside his office. "Oi, Hinamori. Come in."
The bun haired girl nervously shuffled in. She raised her large eyes to look at an uncomfortable Hitsugaya.
"Hitsugaya-kun?" she said, nervously. Hitsugaya sat up at once. Usually she'd call him by his pet name unless it was something serious.
"What's wrong, Hinamori? Spit it out," Hitsugaya tried to sound impatient to cover up the concern in his voice.
Hinamori shifted uncomfortably before mumbling, "Are you mad at me?"
Hitsugaya stared at her incredulously. Him? Mad at her? It was suppose to be the other way round. He wasn't the one who got molested.
"What do you mean?" he demanded.
"Well, y-you act so-so cold towards me and y-you d-don't seem t-to care when I got attacked in the hot springs," at this point, Hinamori burst into tears. "Why? Is it-is it because of the r-robe incident?
Guilt wrung Hitsugaya's heart. So the reason why she seemed so down nowadays was because she thought she was mad at him. As for the robe incident, he knew that she was far too pure and innocent to do even think of doing something like that on her own.
"I-I got assaulted in the hot springs," she sniffed " The pervert pushed me onto the ground and pointed a twenty foot zanpakuto at my throat and said if I screamed, he would cut my throat. Then, he started groping me! I was really scared! After an hour, he stopped and said he would do that again and again next time and-"
Hitsugaya's eyebrow's twitched. Unless he suddenly developed amnesia, he certainly did not remember a twenty foot zanpakuto. He certainly did not recall groping her for an hour or threatening to slice her throat or promising he would do that shameful act again and again! All he remembered was that he accidentally pushed against his chest and disappeared after a second or two.
"I have to admit, she's pretty creative," Hitsugaya thought, sarcastically.
Hinamori rambled on with her story and it seemed to get more and more tragic.
" Erm, Hinamori, I seriously doubt the pervert dragged you by the hair around the hot springs or trapping you in an underwater cage surrounded by sharks," said Hitsugaya, exasperated " Are you sure you didn't imagine those things?"
Hinamori sobbed louder. "Yes he did! You weren't there so how would you know?"
Hitsugaya wanted to bang his head on his desk. He couldn't argue with that. Oh why must females be illogical and logical in the same time?
Sighing, the white haired boy comforted Hinamori, "Don't worry. I won't let any scary perverts near you, okay?"
Hinamori brightened. Hitsugaya-kun was caring for her again! Beaming, she hugged the surprised and blushing captain quickly before skipping out. "Arigatou, Shirou-sama!"
As soon, as Hinamori left him office, Hitsugaya smiled. He was glad she was happy. Secretly, he rather hoped she would hug him like that again.
Rangiku observed the whole situation from a peep hole she made. Her captain was too "preoccupied" to notice her spirit power. She gave a nod of stratification. At least one of her advices must work or Hinamori would be suspicious. Her real advice would be in action soon. "Oh just you wait, taichou."