Here's Chapter 2! The disclaimers are located in Chapter 1~~

And for clarification on the person-to-person vs person-to-zanpaktou conversations, check out "A Two Way Blessing" Chapter 5.

Izuru woke up to sunlight streaming onto his face from the window of his private quarters and just stared blankly at the ceiling above him. Today, he had taken the day off and usually on his days off, he would sleep in a little longer than this. He wasn't able to figure out why he had woken up when he did until he looked over at his daily calendar and saw what day it was.

'White Day, huh?' He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. It figures; he'd been eagerly anticipating this day for the past month, so of course he wasn't going to waste any of it by sleeping. He threw the covers off of himself and began to get ready for the day.

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Not even an hour later, Izuru walked into the 3rd Division's dining hall wearing his shihakusho and Wabisuke securely fastened to his obi. He accepted his meal from the chef and sat at his designated spot in the front of the room.

Just as he said his thanks, his captain walked into the dining hall. Rojuro smiled warmly at the subordinates present in the room and then spoke for the room to hear. "Ohayo, minasan*. Might I have your attention?"

Everyone's heads and eyes turned to their superior. Rojuro didn't need for them to verbally acknowledge that they had heard him nor did he wait for it as he continued, "Today, we'll be having a guest with us for our morning and evening meals, so please treat her like a member of our Division now and then, as well as if you happen to see her around the Seireitei."

Nods of affirmation and acknowledgement as well as murmurings of the same nature were noticeable among the members of the crowd, even the chef and food workers. Izuru picked up his cup of green tea, taking a few sips as he silently wondered, 'Who could possibly warrant Rojuro-taicho's…?'

He never got the chance to finish the thought as the reason for Rojuro's announcement stepped into the dining hall, the sight of her startling Izuru into choking on his tea. Midori bowed slightly before saying, "I'm Midori Otoribashi. Please treat me kindly."

As she straightened back up, the room was so silent that a dropped pin would've been heard. Then everyone sans Izuru and a few other long-standing members of the 3rd Division were spouting questions at Rojuro and Midori as they crowded around the two of them. That's when Izuru realized that most of the Shinigami present had never met or even heard of their captain's family.

Above the din of voices, Izuru managed to hear Wabisuke's telepathic inquiry. 'Is that her? The woman you confessed to last month?'

'Yes, she is,' Izuru responded, his eyes following Midori as she broke away from the mob and took the food one of the workers was offering her. 'It escapes me as to why she's here, though.'

'Perhaps she wanted to give you her response directly without inconveniencing you or someone else,' Wabisuke suggested.

'That is quite possible,' was Izuru's response as he suddenly noticed Midori walking towards him. Rojuro had most likely told her to sit up at the front of the room with the two of them.

As she drew nearer, Wabisuke suddenly pointed out, 'It strikes me as odd, however, that despite her parentage, it doesn't look like she has a zanpaktou of any nature.'

Wabisuke's keen observation brought that fact to Izuru's attention. While he had been with her in the living world, he hadn't given the lack of a zanpaktou on her person a second thought; he had merely brushed it aside by reasoning that she was keeping it hidden for the sake of not drawing attention to herself. But here in the Seireitei, such subtlety and secrecy was unnecessary…

Izuru's train of thought was brought to a halt when Midori sat down next to him. She offered him a warm smile and a cordial greeting. "Ohayo, Izuru-kun."

It took a few seconds before he replied, but he somehow managed to not stutter. "Ohayo, Midori-chan. I wasn't expecting to see you today." Izuru's eyes suddenly widened as he realized what he had just said. He quickly tried to rectify it and tripped over his tongue in the process. "W-wait! I meant, I didn't expect to see you here today! I had planned to go and see you later…"

Midori giggled lightly, a sound that Izuru just realized that he had missed during the past month. "I understand. I had hoped to spend the day here together, kind of like how we did in the living world on Valentine's Day." Her beautiful purple-and-bluish gray eyes saddened, though, before she continued, "But I guess you're on duty today, right?"

Izuru gazed at her quizzically before remembering that he had dressed in his shihakusho. He groaned and buried his head in his hands, mostly to hide the blush slowly creeping into his cheeks. "Well…no, I'm not on duty. I had thought that I would go to Urahara-san's place and just slide into my gigai before I visited you."

Realization dawned on Midori and she grinned bashfully, scratching the back of her head. "Sumimasen. I hadn't really thought about that…"

"It's all right," Izuru returned, a kind smile on his lips. "How about we get going after breakfast is finished?"

Midori nodded emphatically. "Ready to go when you are."

That's when Izuru looked down and noticed, with some amazement, that Midori had already finished her meal. Not wanting to keep her waiting much longer, Izuru almost literally swallowed the rest of his breakfast.

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Rojuro watched as his oldest child and his lieutenant approached the archway that would take them outside the 3rd Division's grounds. While part of him was apprehensive about letting Midori explore the Seireitei, the other part realized that she was in good company and that, even if she wasn't with Izuru, she was able to hold her own against almost anyone.

Right as they reached the archway, Midori's head swiveled in his direction and she asked, "Was there something that you needed before we left, tou-san?"

Izuru suddenly noticed Rojuro's presence and regarded him as well. Rojuro smiled warmly at the two of them as, to his daughter's question, he responded, "Nothing in particular. I just hope the two of you have a good time."

Both of them nodded simultaneously and then answered in the same manner. "Arigatou gozaimasu."

As they walked off, Rojuro chuckled to himself. Those two didn't even realize how in-tune they were with each other.

Translation:

1) minasan - Japanese word for 'everyone'

Edit: Thanks to KittyTheDemonHostess for pointing out the missing 'f'~~! Thanks, girl!