Sorry this chapter took me so long, but I didn't want to write when I was disillusioned with the story. Have you ever had that happen? Anyway, I hopefully will be back on track now, but school's pretty hectic right now, so I'll do the best I can.

Zaraki looked at Renji with amusement.

"You think you can face me kid?" he said with a deadly smirk. "You're on!" Renji's hands started to shake. What the heck was he thinking, picking a fight with Zaraki Kenpachi?! He could make a break for it, but he was too scared to move.

"Prepare yourself!" Zaraki cried, but Renji didn't think he would ever be prepared. He barely blocked the first swipe.

"I'm such an idiot!" Renji thought to himself as Zaraki proceeded to mutilate him in under a minute, leaving him gasping for breath on the floor.

"Heh, you're no fun," Zaraki said, sheathing his zanpakto. "Where's Kurosaki? Now she's a challenge!" And with that, he ran off, leaving a very broken Renji behind.

oooooooooooooooooooo

"Taicho!" Matsumoto sang, her voice echoing loud enough for anyone in a three mile radius to hear her.

"Damn!" Hitsugaya said angrily. "She caught up to me. How'd she find me?" He had come to 11th squad, a place he usually avoided like the plague. They were too brutish and bloodthirsty for his taste. He knew Matsumoto knew that and was sure that she wouldn't look for him here, but there was no mistaking her cry.

"Kurosaki!" he heard Zaraki roar. "Get back here and fight me like a man!"

"I'm not a man and I don't want to fight you!" Karin retorted. "Get the hell away from me! Why the heck do you want to fight anyway? You've never wanted to fight me before!"

"Karin!" Hitsugaya thought with relief. He ran towards the source of their voices and found Karin in much the same state as he was; running away from someone who's motives for chasing her she couldn't fully understand.

"Toushiro!" she said gratefully when she saw him. "Will you help me get rid of the beast?"

"Hitsugaya taicho," Zaraki said hungrily, drawing his sword. "If you want to duel over Kurosaki, I'm game."

"Huh?" Hitsugaya asked flabbergasted and slightly miffed. "What do you mean, 'duel over Kurosaki'? She's not a thing." Zaraki grinned widely and dangerously.

"No she's not," he agreed. "Let's fight over her affections!"

"Affections!?" Hitsugaya and Karin cried at once, then stared at each other in disbelief.

"Zaraki taicho," Karin continued, "I don't know what you think our relationship is exactly, but it is strictly of the taicho-taicho sort." Zaraki grinned ever wider.

"Yeah, well, let's see if we can change that with a good fight!" he said, a crazed look in his eye. Hitsugaya was about to reply, but then he heard the one thing he really wasn't in the mood to hear.

"Taicho!" came Matsumoto's voice from an uncomfortably close distance. Hitsugaya groaned.

"Matsumoto's been chasing me all day," he explained to Karin. "She also seems to be confused about the true nature of our relationship."

"What?" Karin yelled, feelings of jealousy starting to creep up. She had always thought of Hitsugaya and Matsumoto's relationship as the brother sister type; they bothered each other just the right amount and respected each other a little bit more than that. They were wonderful companions and a great fighting team, but Karin had never even entertained the thought of romantic feelings between the two. The thought that Matsumoto had finally shown her true colors bothered her much more than Zaraki's animalistic desire to fight over a potential mate.

"Let's get out of here!" she said urgently watching Zaraki lick his lips in anticipation. She could hear Matsumoto's footsteps charging towards them.

"I'm out of hiding spots," Hitsugaya said desperately. "She's found me everywhere." Mind racing quickly, Karin thought of the perfect place to go. She grabbed Hitsugaya's hand and yanked him away from Zaraki and around the corner.

"Where are we going?" he asked, trying to keep up with her. He was worn out at this point from running for so long.

"Where's the one place Matsumoto always expects you to be?" she asked slyly. Hitsugaya didn't even have to think.

"The office. But why…"

"So that's where we're going," Karin continued. "The 10th squad office."

"What?" Hitsugaya barked. "Why?" Karin simply grinned.

"Because it's the one place she won't expect you to go. It's too obvious." Hitsugaya had to admit, that was a pretty good plan. Even if it only lasted for a little while, having a brief respite from shunpoing around Seireitei would be very welcome.

"Alright," he agreed.

ooooooooooooooooooo

"Wait, Kurosaki, get back here!" Zaraki cried. He started to chase after Karin and Hitsugaya, but stopped short, realizing that he had no idea which way they went.

"Damn it!" he cursed. "Where's Yachiru when I need her?!" Just then, Matsumoto caught up with him.

"Zaraki taicho!" she said cheerily. "Have you seen my taicho?"

"Yeah," Zaraki replied, a little distracted. "He ran off with Kurosaki. Damn, I want to fight her so badly!"

"Karin-chan found him?" Matsumoto asked in surprise, feeling a growing animosity towards her friend that she had never felt before. Why was she the one who had stolen Hitsugaya's heart?

"Which way did they go?" Matsumoto asked, forgetting who she was speaking to. Zaraki scoffed.

"Damned if I know," he said angrily. Suddenly, Matsumoto had one of those ideas that only Matsumoto is capable of.

"Hey, Zaraki taicho," she said, a vindictive smile spreading across her face. "What do you say we team up to search? Taicho and Karin-chan are sure to be together. When we find them, I'll distract taicho and you can pull Karin-chan away for your fight. You know you'll never find them on your own."

"Sounds interesting," Zaraki replied, smiling creepily. "Let's go!" Matsumoto thought for a moment. Now she had lost track of them. Where would they go together?

"Let's try 5th squad," she suggested. "Maybe they're hiding out in Karin-chan's room."

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Hinamori wanted nothing more than to find Hitsugaya and the chocolate, hoping against hope that no damage had been done. She broke away from Karin at the border of 11th squad where she was all set to find Ikkaku and have their sparring session. Hinamori continued at a jog towards 10th squad, but stopped dead at the strangest sight she had ever seen.

Yachiru was sitting on Ikkaku's shoulders, drawing squiggles all over his head. She was laughing hysterically, but the odd thing was, so was Ikkaku. He was actually holding up the jar of pink paint to allow her easy access. Yumichka was sitting beside them, ogling the drawings.

"Fukutaicho," Yumichka pleaded. "Please give me a turn?"

"No!" Ikkaku stated soundly. "Only my love bunny gets to do it!"

"Love bunny?!" Hinamori thought with disgust. What the heck…and then it dawned on her. They had eaten the chocolate! There was no other explanation for this behavior.

"But if they ate it," Hinamori thought in terror, "who else has?" A shrill voice broke into her thoughts.

"Taicho!"

"Matsumoto-san?" Hinamori thought wildly. "What's she doing in 11th squad? Is Hitsugaya-kun here?" Tearing herself away from the madhouse in front of her, Hinamori ran through 11th squad, searching for Matsumoto and Hitsugaya. However, what she found was not the red-head she expected.

"Abarai-kun!" Hinamori gasped, staring at her friend. He was flat on his back, breathing heavily, body covered in wounds.

"Abarai-kun," she said in panic, kneeling over him. "What happened to you?"

"I…sparred…with…Zaraki…taicho," Renji stuttered. Every word seemed painful to him.

"Hold on," Hinamori said in concern. "I'm taking you to 4th squad." Contrary to her small frame, Hinamori was rather strong. She was a fukutaicho after all. Lifting Renji onto her back and running with him to 4th squad was no challenge for her.

"Hinamori-san!" Isane exclaimed when Hinamori entered the 4th squad hospital with her cargo. "What happened?"

"Abarai-kun got in a bit over his head," Hinamori explained. "Zaraki taicho has never been a particularly considerate sparring partner." Isane didn't need to hear any more. She rapidly gave instructions to several squad members and directed them to take Renji to a treatment room.

"He'll be fine," she assured Hinamori after Renji had been taken away. "His wounds aren't bad." Hinamori knew that, but it was relief to hear it anyway.

"Thanks" she replied.

"So, have you turned in your article for the paper yet?" Isane asked casually. "They're due today, remember."

"The article!" Hinamori yelped. In the midst of all the day's excitement, she had forgotten about it. "Thanks, Isane-san!" And she ran off to turn it in, hoping Ichigo was in a good mood.

I hope this isn't starting to sound contrived, but I've got to tie it all in somehow!