Hello and welcome back!

A short note from the author: So, I'm alive… And, I've wanted to thank everyone who's followed this story or put it into their favorites during my not so brief, and luckily not permanent, time away from FFN.

Also, special thanks to the Bluegayle for adding Daisy into The Great, The Unique and The Odd community!

Thank you Sassifrass for putting up with my erratic writing schedule and correcting my random British spelling. You're the best beta anyone could wish for :D

OCs appearing:

Kobashigawa Hinagiku (11th)

Kida Rini (11th)

Matsushita Koichi (11th)

Takagawa Yuuko (9th)

Nakajima Shin (11th)

Watanabe Akihiko - Babyface (11th)

Tsutsui Tomoka (10th)

And a few words of wisdom before we get to it:

Just because it didn't last forever, doesn't mean it wasn't worth your while.

-Unknown

Chapter 18: The Aftermath

It is dark.

And rightfully so.

I'd failed.

There are no excuses. There are no takebacks. I'd failed her. I'd given her my name and my blade and in the end, I'd failed her.

It should stay dark forever.

She finished inputting the last couple of words of her report into the computer before letting out a small sigh. It had been a fairly slow day and there had been a number of papers to register into the impressive system of the Seireishokairō designed by their own 12th Division. The petite Shinigami gathered her papers, now fully digitized and put them all together in one big pile. She gently hit the lower edge against the surface of the table, aligning them perfectly with one another. Then, she placed them in a folder. While her memory was still fresh, she pulled out a tiny metallic brush filled with permanent ink, another invention of their 12th Division, supposedly modeled by a similar thing in Gense called a marker, and wrote down the mission numbers.

With another small sigh, Kobashigawa Hinagiku took off her reading glasses and then stretched her arms out, as far as they could go. Her spine let out a small pop, as if it was happy to be out of the stiff position, as well. The petite Shinigami then entered her name right in front of her supervisor's, Tsubokura Rin's. With another couple of quick movements of her fingers across the keyboard, all of the reports were sent, ready to be reviewed. The Shinigami placed her glasses into the sleeve of her kosode and then stood, pushing her chair back in.

Struggling with the pile of folders had become a specialty of hers, though, that day was different. The Tournament of the 11th Division, which felt ages away, had caused a pileup in paperwork. And, despite a week having passed since the end of the whole ordeal, Hinagiku was still dealing with numerous filing issues and expenses from the fights. Not to mention that the whole Division had been in an uproar after they'd heard the Captain's Seating decision. Though none of them had complained, there were still murmurs. Finally, the man himself had addressed the Division, telling them to 'go ahead and challenge the Seat for their spot if they thought they could win'. Hinagiku hadn't really expected anything less unconventional from her Captain. Though, those words had brought an end to the discontent. Some members had applied for a transfer. Some Shinigami had submitted their applications to enter the 11th Division. Life went on.

Hinagiku placed the last folder into its proper spot at the library and smiled to herself. Filing had always filled her with a sense of fulfillment. Like, she'd done a great job. The petite Shinigami headed back to the desk with the computer for the last time that day. She logged off and shut the machine off, gathering her belongings quickly. It was only the genius brush and a couple of folders she would need to bring back to the Division. They still needed her Captain's signature and then, she would have to instruct someone to carry them to other Divisions.

Hinagiku climbed the stairs up to the main floor of the Seireishokairō, reaching the front desk. Behind it sat Takagawa Yuuko, the busty librarian of the 9th Division. Her nose was immersed in a book, as usual. And, by the half nude man with suspiciously shiny skin on the front cover, Hinagiku would bet that the book wasn't one that she would voluntarily read. It was definitely one of those romance novels, which Tsutsui Tomoka, her old Academy acquaintance, had snuck into their dorm room by the dozen. The contents, which the girl had read out loud to her roommates, were positively sinful.

"Kobashigawa Hinagiku of the 11th Division, checking out." Hinagiku said, gaining Yuuko's attention with her polite bow. The woman looked up from her book, blinking a couple of times, as if returning to reality. Then, she frowned.

"That's no good, Hina-chan!" Yuuko whined. "You need to properly include your title in a formal introduction, now." The woman was smiling wide, and her grin grew even further when the petite Shinigami blushed profusely. "Won't you try again? I'll pretend I didn't hear you!" And the woman re-opened her, book, seemingly immersed in it once more. Hinagiku took a shaky breath, the heat still on her cheeks, before she spoke up.

"Kobashigawa Hinagiku, 19th Seat of the 11th Division, checking out." She managed to school her voice into an unemotional tone, but she still couldn't suppress the smile on her face, which grew at the title. Yuuko squealed, dropping her romance novel and jumping up with a grin.

"Congratulations!" The busty librarian exclaimed, reaching over the counter to pat the Shinigami on the head, ruffling her already messy hair. As soon as the woman turned to grab Hinagiku's katana, the petite girl attempted to tame her locks once more. But, to no avail. The wavy hair stood as it wanted, like it always had. Though, the girl managed to push it completely out of her eyes. "Here you go, Hina-chan!" Yuuko offered the katana to her. "Send my regards to Kobashigawa-sama and come again soon!"

Hinagiku bowed her head as she left the Seireishokairō, attempting to hide her red face.

Despite the fact that the 11th Division was nowhere near the Seireishokairō, Hinagiku made it back in record time. Since the medical team, in fact, Yamada Hanatarō, had cleared her for duty, almost two days after the end of the Tournament, the small Shinigami had been practicing her basics. The medic had made her promise to take it easy, which meant no combat whatsoever, but, he hadn't mentioned Shunpo at all. So, Hinagiku had been honing her skills at every possible corner.

As soon as she neared the barracks she heard the telltale battle cry of their, still, 3rd Seat, Madarame Ikkaku. Once she cleared the gate she saw the man, well, bandage-wrapped beast, pushing away three newly recruited Shinigami. Hinagiku noted that Nakajima Shin was sitting in the nearby crowd, watching the man's every move with focus. He had a pure white bandage wrapped around his torso, where she had delivered her final attack during their match, eliminating him from the competition.

She hadn't spoken to him yet.

Hinagiku took the coward's way out, heading for the, undoubtedly vacant, offices instead of talking to their new recruit. The summer was ending, yet, the weather was still nice. So, most of the rowdy Shinigami of the 11th Division were in the front 'yard' of their barracks, where Ikkaku was giving his usual lesson in manners. There were always a few groups lounging about and commenting on different techniques and fighting tactics, looking at the everyday spectacle. And the rest of the officers, they could be found in the back of the barracks, actually doing their jobs. Hinagiku took off her waraji among the numerous, bigger ones, and stepped onto the wooden floor of the patio. She headed down the winding corridors of offices, knowing the path by heart already, and she finally arrived at the inner yard of the barracks.

She let out a content sigh, taking in the almost peaceful sight. The inner yard had been built long before Captain Zaraki had taken over the Division, clearly by a woman's hand. The offices were planned out in such a way that they circled in a rectangle around a small pond and garden in the traditional style. This was the place where an officer could head out to in order to meditate, if they so wished. With the fish in the pond and the tiny bridge among the meticulously cared for bonsai trees, it almost made you forget which Division you were in. Then, you would see an occasional officer snoring away in this small piece of paradise and you would laugh to yourself, remembering that this was the Zaraki Kenpachi Squad.

Hinagiku made the small circle around the garden, ignoring the couple of men who were clearly gambling and drinking sake in the early afternoon, and she went to her office. She had been surprised when she'd heard the results of the Tournament finals. Despite the fact that she'd managed to survive the battles, she had been far from the best of them. Though, if there was one thing that she hadn't complained about, it was the office.

She shared a small space with three other people. The 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Seat were stuck together in a stuffy room with large filing cabinets and piles of paperwork. In the first two days in her new office, the small Shinigami had completely flipped. Her OCD wouldn't allow for the room to stay in that state of mess, hence, she'd pushed both herself and her new office-mates to finish their overdue papers. After that she'd done a small bit of redecorating, using her own salary. Rini had been rather disapproving of that, but, it wasn't like Hinagiku had anything else to use her pay on.

Now, the office looked completely different. The wooden floor had been scrubbed and polished, a new tatami over it, and the walls had been re-painted. The large, old filing cabinets had been replaced with new ones, which took much less space while holding more paperwork. Hinagiku had personally labeled them carefully, so that her colleagues wouldn't have any trouble sorting through their work. There were four desks, in mahogany, each in one corner of the room. Hinagiku had asked her colleagues if they wanted traditional ones, where one would kneel to write, or the new style, tall ones. In the end, all four of them had gone to the store, buying one tall desk each. They were fairly simple, yet, the small amount of carving made them interesting to the eye. Hinagiku, as expected, didn't care much for the carvings. No, she'd chosen her desk based on the number, size, and usability of its drawers.

"Hey, Hina." Watanabe Akihiko smiled dazzlingly at her as she entered their shared office. "How are you feeling today?" He asked with that same smile not leaving his face.

"I'm very well. Thank you for asking, Watanabe-dono." Hinagiku bowed to him politely, proceeding to her desk. She hadn't seen him earlier at the office, so, he must've just come in. By the size of the ice in the tea in front of him, she was almost certain that he had.

Watanabe Akihiko was a fairly short man with boyish features. He had light, sand-colored hair that sometimes seemed golden in a trick of the light, and a bright smile on his face almost constantly. His eyes were large for a man, making him almost look feminine, and a deep brown color of chocolate. He'd entered their Division about a decade ago, slowly climbing up in rank. Finally, he'd made it to the Seated positions last year and this Tournament, he'd managed to defend his spot. This was their Division's 18th Seat, more famously known as Babyface.

"We were planning on going to a bar after work today to celebrate our Seats, will you join us?" Akihiko didn't stop asking questions, swirling the ice around his glass with a flick of his wrist. "You don't have to drink if you don't want to." His smile widened.

"I will certainly consider it." Hinagiku politely bowed to him before sitting at her own desk. "Thank you for the thoughtful invitation, Watanabe-dono." And then, she proceeded to go over the mail which had come in on her desk during her absence. Soon, Akihiko left his chair, in favor of sitting on the edge of the patio outside. Hinagiku glanced at his desk, frowning at the fact that he hadn't gotten any work done yet.

With a sigh, she chose to ignore the urge to reprimand her superior officer, an unthinkable thing for the short Shinigami, and she grabbed her letter opener. There were a couple of letters on her desk, one probably informing her of her new duties as a Seated officer and one undoubtedly congratulating her on the position and offering off-base accommodations. She wouldn't accept the latter, though. She took out her reading glasses and began her work.

Hinagiku quickly sorted through the mail, placing the appropriate reports into the right folders, and then putting them in her own filing cabinet. A small smile made it onto her face as she worked, happy with how organized the items were. She'd always had a simple satisfaction with order. And frankly, that was one thing Hinagiku didn't blame her Grandmother for teaching her. Her smile faded into a sad frown as she realized that one of the missions hadn't gone well during the week before the Tournament. A couple of young Shinigami had passed away.

Hinagiku immediately placed that task at the top of her list. She needed to inform the families and to organize the proper burial of the bodies. Though, after that, her next envelope had her smiling already. It wasn't a letter per se, as it stood out with its bulky packaging from the rest of the mail. It was longer than the rest of her letters, too. After making sure that Watanabe was still busy outside, she slowly opened it.

A single, orange rose bud lay there.

Hinagiku frowned. Desire? The meaning of the flower was pretty clear. Though, what did Tomoka want from her? Besides, the flower was a bit too romantic for any kind of desire other than sexual being expressed. Just what-? Hinagiku almost slapped her forehead. Enthusiasm. She gave a small smile at the clever way of expressing that message.

I'm proud of you.

Smiling widely, Hinagiku continued going through her letter heap, but not after she placed the rose bud into her mug for tea, now full of water. She'd have to thank her friend for the trouble.

"No way!" The girl exclaimed in her original, accented way of speech in disbelief as she read through her new duties as a Seated officer. "I ain't doin' this!" She allowed her forehead to touch the surface of her desk in defeat. She was now regretting fighting so hard for her position.

"What won't you be doing, Hinagiku?" A familiar voice asked from the doorway and Hinagiku turned her head to the side, showing her saddened face to her friend. "I don't think that you'll be able to stay away from the work, anyway." Kida Rini grinned, showing all of her pearly whites and almost closing her eyes in delight.

"I don' want ta work with a team!" Hinagiku wailed, all of her politeness gone for once. She didn't even notice the shocked look on Watanabe Akihiko, Babyface's, face. He rose from his bow to the superior officer that had just arrived, staring incredulously at his co-worker for her lack of politeness. "Can I jus' quit now?"

Rini laughed, holding both onto the doorway and her stomach. "You're crazy, girl, I'll give you that." She walked over, pushing herself up onto Watanabe's desk and making herself comfortable there. "All Seats work with teams. At the least, you will be in charge of ten people. Me, I was working with a team of eleven Shinigami, composed of both newbies and experienced officers. Now, we'll see what the Captain will assign to me." Rini went silent, carefully watching her friend's increasingly worried look.

"Kill me." Hinagiku finally settled upon and lowered her head back down to her desk. Babyface still seemed to be recovering from the shock of Hinagiku's accent and familiarity with a high-ranked officer.

If you asked Hinagiku how she'd ended up in this situation, she couldn't quite tell you. She had been minding her own business, finishing the old Seat's paperwork, when Rini had burst into her office for the fifth time that day. Hinagiku was considering getting her friend a chair of her own, since she kept sitting on Watanabe's desk and making him lose his wits.

"After all, you can't really ask a superior officer to get their perfectly proportioned behind off your desk, can you?" As he had put it after the fourth time Rini had left. But, the last time the woman had burst in, she'd dragged Hinagiku off behind her, mumbling something about a celebration.

Which brings us to Hinagiku's current predicament.

She had been persuaded, feel free to read forced, into one of Rini's own outfits, a pair of shorts and a fairly revealing shirt from Gense. The outfit would've looked good, at least from her objective perspective, if worn by any other person. Even Ikkaku would've worn it better. But, for Hinagiku, it was not only terribly alien, but horribly revealing. She was used to wearing either her shihakushō or a proper kimono. Gense clothing was breezy and left a bit too little to the imagination. Not like she had anything to show. Everything was small, she'd thought, glancing at Rini's V-neck shirt that showed her cleavage nicely.

Koichi had had a blast, seeing them walking together towards the local bar.

"Yowza!" He's commented, causing Hinagiku's brows to furrow in confusion. Though, Rini had obviously understood the strange phrase, as she'd given him a look that was possibly the coldest glare in existence.

"Do not ever speak to me again." She'd said with clear distaste on her face. The sheer awkwardness of the two lines spoken had had Hinagiku fidgeting, feeling like a third wheel to their moment of animosity. She'd actually politely excused herself, heading for a dark corner in order to shift the tight bandages around her torso a little. When she'd returned, the situation had been as frosty as when she'd left. Unfortunately.

But, this all brought us to this moment.

Hinagiku was sitting across from Aramaki Makizō, the recently appointed 10th Seat, a mountain of plates in front the both of them. She was moving her spoon in what probably seemed like a replica of her signature quickdraw as she shoveled as much strawberry and caramel sundae into her mouth as she could, while remaining polite. Though, she knew that there was nothing polite or dignified about an all-you-can-eat battle. Her opponent, on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble with his banana sundaes, as he seemed to have swallowed too early.

His small break for a glass of water allowed her a speedy victory.

Hinagiku slammed her spoon onto the table, all manners forgotten as she jumped up in joy. "I'm finished!" A bell sounded from the side, and suddenly, everyone, except the green-looking Aramaki, was cheering and clinking their alcohol-filled glasses once more. Hinagiku laughed as Koichi clapped her on the back rather roughly, before he hung a medal around her neck. She raised it, laughing even harder at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

The Great Eater of Desserts. It read in large, bold golden letters that shimmered as she turned it around. But, Hinagiku didn't care about how ridiculous the medal looked, or, how silly she probably seemed while wearing it in borrowed, overly tight clothes from Gense. She was laughing hard despite all of her wounds, because, that night, her life was good. She was living the dream of an officer in Seireitei.

"Eater of Deserts, eh?" Rini smiled, plopping down next to her. The redhead's cheeks were tinted with a blush, and Hinagiku didn't even need to look at her glass to know that it was sake.

"The Great Eater of Deserts." Corrected the petite Shinigami with a huge grin, ignoring the way her battle wounds ached and how her stomach felt a bit too full because of the sheer number of sundaes she'd consumed.

"Forgive me for my indiscretion, Your Greatness." And the two girls dissolved into a fit of giggles once again. Then, Rini suddenly went stiff as a board, her eyes somehow losing their shine and she looked away from the spot somewhere on the other side of the bar. "I'm not feeling too good." She told her friend. "Will you be alright if I turn in for the night?" The redhead looked desperate to get out of there.

"Of course." Hinagiku didn't ask. Knowing Rini, the bold and open woman that she was, this had to be something fairly troubling if she was willing to bottle it up like that. So, Hinagiku would give her time and hopefully, it will be worth it. "Do you need me to see you off home?"

"Psh." Rini waved her away. "Stay. Enjoy." The officer said. She drank the rest of her glass in one big gulp and gave her friend a wicked grin. "Don't you be getting too close with any of the boys now, alright?" Rini laughed at the shocked look on her friend's face, getting up and leaving with a small wave.

After that, Hinagiku had been mostly left to her own devices. Koichi had checked in with her from time to time, always offering her a drink. The girl had had half a mind to refuse it, as it had undoubtedly been alcoholic. Her friend from the Academy, Tomoka, had shown up at some point with her friends, waving Hinagiku over to their table. There, the noblewoman had given her one of her 'I knew you could do it' speeches, which had thrown Hinagiku for a loop. Even Yuuko, the librarian from the Seireishokairō, had crossed the bar at some point to congratulate her.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

After sitting with her Division for the better part of the evening and early morning, mostly observing them, Hinagiku felt her stomach churning. A single look at Koichi, who seemed a tad sheepish, told her exactly what had happened. He'd managed to slip her some alcohol while she'd been distracted. But, the alcohol wasn't the problem. She'd tasted sake plenty of times. No, it was the alcohol mixed with the sheer amount of strawberry-caramel sundaes.

Hinagiku excused herself, retiring for the evening.

She'd barely made it outside of the bar, before she had to grip the wall, the sundaes climbing up and down all over her insides. She'd known that the eating competition had been a bad idea, but she hadn't thought that this would've been the result. Now, there were two ways that this victory of hers could go, and she didn't like either outcome.

"Kobashigawa?"

Hinagiku took a deep breath, straightening her back, and remembering all of her teachings on how to be a Lady. No matter how uncomfortable or how much it hurt, one must remain calm and serene looking. She placed a smile on her face, like a painter painted it on a picture, and raised her head.

Captain Hitsugaya Tōshirō, the prodigy of the Gotei 13, was standing in front of her at the worst possible time.

"Hitsugaya-do-taicho." She managed to remember halfway to address him by his title, as he preferred. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Hinagiku politely inquired, taking in the sight of him outside of his uniform. A casual, summer yukata for men looked great on him, especially with its dark details, which accented his light colored hair and eyes.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your new position." He offered a small smile and Hinagiku saw the way his weight shifted. He'd switched from the formal, military position of attention to a more relaxed stance, where more pressure was on a single leg. "How are you finding the duties of the 19th Seat?"

"I must say that it has been an extraordinary honor and privilege to be allowed the position." Hinagiku's stomach was doing jumps once more, and, for once, it had nothing to do with the handsome Captain in front of her. "I feel the most comfortable with the administrative part of the job, I must confess." She could taste sake in her mouth.

"Ah, I see." The young Captain nodded. "You will be handling a team, won't you?" Hitsugaya's eyes left her form for a mere second, taking in the people who were walking into the bar, before darting back to her.

"Yes, so far, I believe that I will be working with six people." Hinagiku confirmed. "I should be getting their portfolios within the week." The taste of strawberries and caramel was strong on her tongue now.

"That sounds like a handful." The Captain nodded. "If you need any- Oi, Kobashi-"

But, it was done.

Hinagiku couldn't control it anymore and the strawberry and caramel sundaes, in all of their half-digested glory, came tumbling out of her mouth and straight onto the Captain's shoes. She was pretty sure that the sake had left her system, as well, as she could feel the burn of her cheeks in sheer embarrassment.

Though, the Captain hadn't recoiled or anything. In fact, it was his reaction that had surprised her the most. His feet had vanished from her line of vision and a moment later, two strong, yet gentle, hands were pulling her hair back from her face. His long fingers, calloused by years of using his katana, rested on her forehead and she immediately felt the cooling reiatsu helping her nausea.

"Get it all out." Hitsugaya's tone was soft and quiet, almost a whisper, right next to her ear. If Hinagiku hadn't been dying from both embarrassment and the vomiting, she probably would've blushed at the sheer intimacy of the moment. "You're alright." He told her once more in the same tone, which did nothing to help with her predicament. The sundaes were still coming out and she was feeling more embarrassed by the second.

Finally, they stopped.

Hinagiku dry heaved for a moment, not sure if there would be an encore of her performance. Though, it seemed like her stomach was finally completely empty. She reached for the sleeve of her kosode, where she usually kept a tissue at hand, along with her reading glasses, only to realize that she wasn't in uniform. Her eyes burned with tears of complete shame and sheer self-consciousness. She was a complete mess.

She had just hurled on a Captain's shoes.

"Are you alright to wait here for a moment?" Hitsugaya asked, his voice still calming in her ear, but to Hinagiku, it was like a door to even more embarrassment, if that was possible. She gave a small nod, wishing that he would just go away already. And, when she felt his cool hands leave her forehead and release her hair, she didn't raise her head. "I will just go get some water and tissues from the bar. Wait here." And his cool reiatsu vanished from behind her. But, Hinagiku didn't wait around for the man to return. She pushed as much reiatsu into her toes as she could muster.

In an instant, she was gone.

And that's it!

I hope that the end of the Tournament wasn't overly anti-climactic, but I really needed some regular Hinagiku-pace to return to the story :D

As for the wonderful reviews:

Thank you Nariel Helyanwe and the florist on your long reviews, I've already given a reply in PMs (because I'm impatient like that xD).

lizyeh2000:
I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter! I promise that there will be more of Hina fighting soon enough, so you'll be able to see more of her newfound powers :D As for now, some romantic development! (finally!)

fanfictionaddicthelpline:
Yeeeeeaaaaaah! I hope that you enjoyed it! Though… There was a bit of comic relief in there 'cause I'm evil like that :P There will be more serious fighting soon enough :)

bookangel1624:
Oooooh! I'm sooo glad! I was a bit worried if I'd dragged it on for too long xD There will be more of her power soon enough, I promise. However, first, we're going to have a bit of Hina and Tōshirō time :) Thank you for the lovely review! I'm looking forward to reading more of your thoughts :)

katiewinchester87:
Well, I hope that you're happy with this update as well? :P I promise that the next one will be less than a couple of months apart xD
I'm glad that you're proud of Hina! I found myself actually being, like, is this too much? Then, I figured that it was a good pace of growth for her :D There will be more Zanpakutō action soon, too… Though, first, we ought to have some time with Tōshirō, right? :D
I look forward to hearing from you again!

HTMLfreak:
Yeah! I did take a whole bunch of chapters for her to meet her Zanpakutō… Hopefully it was worth it :P Thank you for taking the time to review!

Hybrid301:
Thank you for the lovely review! I promise that there will be more details on the powers of her Zanpakutō soon... However, as for now, we get more Tōshirō… I would call that a double plus, no? :P As always, I look forward to hearing from you :D

Girl-luvs-manga:
Hey! Thanks for the review! We've finally gotten there, right? Stay tuned for the details on her Zanpakutō's abilities :D

x-shutter-bug-x:
I hope that you enjoyed the chapter once more! Thank you for taking the time to leave a note :D

heleana1:
Sorry for the long wait! I promise that the next chapter is coming soon :D

rgnmks:
Oh my Gosh, your review made me grin like a madwoman at work xD My colleagues seriously thought I'd finally lost it…
I'm soooo glad that I had you waiting for the big reveal of the Zanpakutō and I hope that it didn't disappoint :) In the beginning, I actually decided only to start each chapter with the same sentence. Then, it sort of developed into a whole Zanpakutō POV thing xD In the end, I decided that I really like it xD I hope that you'll keep enjoying the story!

Marie:
No worry, I'm really late with uploading this chapter, somehow… I hope that you enjoyed it!

Omake:

Tōshirō entered the loud bar, immediately tuning out the cheery singing of the 11th Division. The whole five seconds of it had been a sound from the depths of hell, already. If he had to give you a comparison, it would definitely be something in between a cat being tortured and a Menos giving birth. He'd never heard either, so that was only his best guess, based purely on personal speculation.

He'd pushed his way through the sweaty bodies of fellow Shinigami celebrating, all in casual clothing, to the front of the bar. Finally, he managed to reach the counter. It took a moment before the Soul working there spotted him, but then, the seemingly young man walked over to him. He'd been recognized as a Captain, Tōshirō almost smiled at the thought.

"A glass of water and some napkins." The prodigy slightly raised his voice to be heard over the noise. "I'm in a hurry." He clarified and the bartender disappeared after giving a small nod.

"Taichooooooo~!" Long, clearly female, arms enveloped him and Tōshirō felt a telltale warmth of soft flesh on his cheek, ear and back of the neck. Matsumoto had obviously spotted him. Their difference in height made it fairly easy for his Lieutenant to attempt to suffocate him with her overly developed body parts. Again.

"Get off, Matsumoto." Tōshirō weakly reprimanded. He knew that not even he would be able to reason with the woman at this point. After all, he could smell the alcohol on her breath over the flowery note of her perfume.

"Taichoo! So mean~!" Matsumoto whined, giving him one final squeeze before letting go. As soon as the Captain saw her face, he knew that she was smashed. The woman had a dazed, yet clearly happy look in her eyes, along with a usual 'sake blush' on her cheeks. She was completely smashed. Sadly, Tōshirō realized that he would be doing the paperwork tomorrow on his own, while his Lieutenant was sleeping off her hangover. "Come party with us!" The woman, however, didn't read the look in his eyes, pulling on his arm now. Tōshirō tossed a look over her shoulder, seeing Kira Izuru and Hisagi Shūhei sitting together. The former gave a small, uncoordinated, drunken wave while the latter seemed to be having a staredown with his sake bottle. Completely smashed.

"Kira and Hisagi seem to be drinking your share, too, Matsumoto." Tōshirō said in a flat, borderline sarcastic tone. He felt a pang of joy when the woman's eyes widened in sheer panic and she flew back to her spot next to the drunken Lieutenants. "Thank you." Tōshirō said to the bartender, accepting the water and the napkins and pointed to his Lieutenant's table. "Put it on her tab." He said, leaving.

The young Captain used a single Shunpo in order to evade his Lieutenant, stepping through the doors under the arm of Iba Tetsuzaemon and heading for the small alley where he'd left Kobashigawa. Though, when he arrived there, he found only the aftermath of her sickness, and the girl nowhere in sight.

"Damn Matsumoto." Cursed the short Captain, as the woman had held him up for too long. In his hand, the water in the disposable slowly frosted over, becoming ice. He tossed it in a nearby bin, giving one last glance to the doors of the bar. It seemed like he wouldn't be meeting Momo in there, after all.

He wasn't in the mood for celebration.

I've really grown fond of these Omakes… What about you guys? Would you like to see more of them?