DISCLAIMER: I do not own BLEACH. If I did I would be living in great luxury!!!

Morning came before Hinamori had enough sleep. She woke up to her subordinates piling up more paperwork for her to do. Sighing, she got out her special pen and started reading and signing the forms. After a while, she lay back in her seat and closed her eyes.

She shut out all the sounds of the people around her and just concentrated on herself. Without realizing it, she was slipping into a well known nightmare.

The ground was shaking. Hinamori could feel it. She fell to the ground and watched in horror as Aizen tugged at the ribbon holding her hair.

Hinamori woke up screaming, sweat dampening her clothes. There was no one in sight, and Hinamori was thankful. She was trembling as she stood up and decided to take a walk. The air outside did her some good.

Taking a deep breath, she started toward the lake again and when she arrived, dipped her feet in it. The cool water felt good, and she looked at her reflection in the water. Without knowing what she was doing, Hinamori tugged at her bun and let her hair fall down over her shoulders. She looked at the distorted image in the water and gasped. It seemed like she was a completely different person.

That was when Hinamori decided to wear her hair down the rest of the day. She stood up and raced back to the office, catching many eyes on the way there. When she got to the office, she finished off the paperwork and sat on a coushin by the window, staring out at the blue sky.

Her stream of thoughts were broken when a messagner burst in and cried, "Urgent captain and vice-captain meeting."

Hinamori slowly got to her feet and followed the messanger to the council meeting. She took a place beside her fellow vice-captains.

"As you know, three captains have...gone. We are here to decide who will be their sucessors. Obviously the vice-captains, however we must vote on that matter. Kira Izuru! Stand up!"

Kira stood up and the voting began. 3 out of the 10 remaining captains voted against him and gave their reasons as, "He was easily manipulated. He can be manipulated again."

Hinamori was extremely nervous by the time Kira's fate was decided but held her chin up high and looked the captains straight in the eye when they judged her.

"No." said a firm voice, and everybody was surprised to see Hitsugaya speaking. They had thought he was the last person to object. His voice was like a domino. Soon all the captains were against the promotion. Hinamori still held her head high and bowed respectfully, withdrawing back to the vice-captain ranks.

"Bad luck," Kira murmured. Hinamori shrugged. Sure paperwork would take her mind off a lot of things, but she didn't want the responsibilty yet. Hisagi Shuuhei took all votes to be captain and the meeting was finished. Hinamori brushed past everybody. She didn't want everybody else's pity. She had a lot of paperwork ahead.

Right when she settled herself down into her chair, the door was opened and Hitsugaya stepped in. Hinamori nodded toward another chair, and he sat down.

"It's for your own sake."

That was what he said. Hinamori was bitter and exclaimed, "For my sake! Hitsugaya-taicho, when have you ever done anything that hasn't benifited yourself?"

Hitsugaya was taken aback. "If you really wanted to be captain that much--"

"I didn't," Hinamori calmly replied, shuffling papers. "I just want to protect myself. I don't need other people to make my decisions. Now if you please, I have work to do."

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Sunsun128: o.o Hinamori is on bad terms with Hitsugaya. Let's check in on them now. -uses super secret spy gadget-

Hitsugaya: Please Hinamori.

Hinamori: -cold voice- No Hitsugaya-taicho

Sunsun128: -crys- Soooooooo sad.