Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters.

Chapter Two - Dreams

Squad Ten Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya awoke with a jerk, jarred from a deep sleep by the sound of a door banging open, and his teal eyes frantically searched for some sign as to where he was. His heart was racing and his eyes were wide, terrified of something unseen and unknown. A few seconds passed and the white-haired prodigy's breathing slowed a degree and his heart ceased to pound as he realized that he was seated at the desk in his own office, completely surrounded by scattered paperwork.

"Dammit," the young captain swore under his breath as he raked a hand through his unruly white hair, causing it to stick up even more than usual. The last thing he remembered was attempting to finish the mound of paperwork that Matsumoto had neglected to complete and now it appeared, from the fading light in the office, that several hours had passed.

"Are you alright?" Vice-captain Matsumoto asked as she hurried over to the spot where her superior was sitting. There was a concerned expression in her blue eyes as she gazed down at Hitsugaya, who still appeared somewhat freaked out.

"Of course," Hitsugaya snapped, forcing his features back into their normal, stoic appearance as he attempted to recall what exactly he had been dreaming about. Unfortunately all he could recover were fragments of the dream, a dream about anger and abuse. Torment and death. And this wasn't the first time that he had experienced such dreams; although this last one had been the most vivid, such dreams had been plaguing him for the last week which was perhaps the reason why he had been so exhausted that he'd fallen asleep while still at his desk. After all he never did things like that. Shaking his head to rid himself of the disturbing images that seemed to have embedded themselves in his brain Hitsugaya gazed up at his subordinate. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well," Matsumoto said slowly, the expression in her blue eyes still somewhat concerned as her gaze remained focused on her captain. "I was on my way to Squad Eight for a meeting with Captain Kyouraku but then I heard you moaning and you sounded like you were in pain. I was worried about you so I came in here to check on you and make sure that you were alright."

Hitsugaya had to admit that he was surprised by her words. Not that she was concerned about him, she showed that side of herself on occasion, but that she had heard him moaning. Had the dream truly been that disturbing? He couldn't remember enough of it to tell. Not that he thought his second in command would lie about something like that, Matsumoto was always brutally honest.

Once again attempting to recall the dream Hitsugaya's teal eyes glazed over but try as he might he couldn't call up any of the images. All that remained were left over emotions.

"Are you alright Captain?" Matsumoto asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm fine," Hitsugaya said, in an attempt to assure himself, as well as her, that everything was indeed alright. Deciding that what he needed was to get back to work and a sense of normalcy the young captain straightened up the papers that he had scattered in the throes of his dream and pulled the stack forward. "But if you're truly concerned about my well being you could stay and help me. . ."

Hitsugaya glanced up at this point only to find vacant space where his vice-captain had been standing mere seconds before. Shaking his head the Squad Ten Captain ran a hand through his unruly white hair. It never failed, even hint at the prospect of doing paperwork and Matsumoto would make herself vanish with amazing speed.

"Didn't really think that would work," Hitsugaya muttered to himself as he attempted to pull himself together enough to get back to work. Once again running a hand through his snowy hair he sighed deeply then looked down at the paperwork that he had placed in front of him, a determined look in his teal eyes.

"Oh well," Hitsugaya said as he picked up a pen. "If she actually did her paperwork then I'd think something was wrong with her."

The young captain attempted to complete the massive stack of paperwork that was piled on his desk however, after a few hours in which he only completed a handful of documents, Hitsugaya finally gave it up as a lost cause. He was too preoccupied by the dreams to properly concentrate on his paperwork and knew that he would only have to redo them later if he continued on in his current state. His current lack of concentration was a perfect recipe for mistakes and he did not wish for his efforts to be in vain. Contrary to the thoughts of his subordinates in general, and Matsumoto in particular, he did not enjoy doing paperwork and had no intention of doing the same stack of paperwork twice. With a sigh Hitsugaya got to his feet and left the office, needing to go somewhere to clear his thoughts.

Even though dusk was approaching and the light from the sun was fading Hitsugaya decided to take a walk. He desperately needed something to clear his mind so that he could get back to the work that needed to be done and he knew that it wouldn't happen if he remained in the office.

"I have to get out of here for awhile," he thought to himself as he left his office.

There was only one place in all of Soul Society where he could truly relax and clear his mind enough to think and so Hitsugaya made his way to District One of the Rukongai. There, nestled in a grove of beautiful cherry trees, was a peacefully flowing river. The young captain sat down beneath the largest of the trees, growing on the eastern bank of the river, and pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them protectively.

"What does this mean?" he thought to himself as he stared out across the water. The view of the sunset reflected on the water was spectacular and yet even that didn't serve to clear the young captain's thoughts. "And why are these dreams plaguing me now?"

A shadow passed across Hitsugaya's teal eyes as he thought about the fragments that he could remember from the dream. The left over emotions from the dream threatened to overwhelm the young captain, even though he couldn't remember any of the exact details. For some unknown reason he felt completely drained, both emotionally and strangely enough even physically.

"What is wrong with me?" he whispered in a tormented voice as he clutched his knees even tighter and placed his chin on top of them. After nearly a week of these strange dreams, each more vivid than the last, he still couldn't understand the meaning of them nor could he figure out why they were tormenting him now. Something had to be causing them, some unknown force, and Hitsugaya couldn't stop himself from wondering if he were going insane. Had the stress of being the youngest captain in Soul Society history and responsible for the completion of countless stacks of paperwork, coupled together with his vice-captain's lack of help, finally caused something in him to snap?

"Hey Rangiku," a voice called out as Matsumoto made her way toward the Squad Eight barracks. She glanced over toward the sound of the voice and saw Captain Kyouraku lounging underneath a tree in the courtyard, dressed in his customary pink haori covered in flowers and with his hat nearly covering his face. The fading light didn't seem to bother him in the least and there was a smile on his face.

"Kyouraku-san," she called out, having long since ceased referring to him as captain. The flamboyant leader of Squad Eight wasn't really much for formality, which was good cause neither was she. She had only called him captain a handful of times and then only because her own captain was with her.

"You're late," Kyouraku said, holding up a small bottle of sake. "I had to start the meeting without you."

"I'm sorry," Matsumoto said as she knelt on the ground beside him and accepted the cup that he offered. "I was on my way here when I heard my captain moaning as though he were in pain."

"Moaning?" Kyouraku repeated, pulling his hat back so that he could look into his friend's eyes. He could see the concern that was still evident in their blue depths. "Was the kid okay?"

"Physically," Matsumoto said as she took a small sip of sake. "He'd fallen asleep while doing paperwork and he was tossing around as though he were having a terrible nightmare. Thankfully the sound of me entering the office woke him but even then he looked completely freaked out. I have never seen him look like that, not in the entire time that I've known him. He looked like a scared little kid."

"So what was the kid having nightmares about?" Kyouraku asked as he took a long drink of sake. Wiping his hand across his mouth he turned a devilish grin to his friend. "The huge stacks of paperwork that you left him with so that you could come party with me?"

There was a serious expression on Matsumoto's face as she replied in a quiet voice, "He couldn't remember what the nightmare was about but he definitely seemed freaked out about it. And I don't think that this is the first time it's happened to him. He hasn't said anything to me but he's seemed exhausted all week and the fact that he actually fell asleep while working speaks volumes to me. I'm worried."

Showing his rare serious side Kyouraku reached out and touched his friend's shoulder in a comforting manner. "I'm sure Hitsugaya will be fine. He's a really tough kid after all."

Matsumoto nodded her head. It was true that her captain was strong but being strong only meant that it took more to bring you to your breaking point. It by no means meant that you were invincible. "Please captain," she thought to herself as she gazed out over the horizon. "If there's something going on that you need to talk about I hope you know that you can come to me. I'm here for you sir."

The young captain of Squad Ten spent a couple of hours sitting by the river and then, having restored his calm, Hitsugaya decided that he would once again make an attempt to finish the paperwork that was still sitting on his desk. This had to be an all time low for him, it had never, in the entire history of his captaincy, taken him this long to finish paperwork.

"This is disgraceful," he muttered to himself in an irritated tone of voice as he opened the door to his office. Striding into the office Hitsugaya sat down at his desk and once again pulled the stack of papers toward him. He was determined to complete them this time and wasn't going to let anything get in his way. Especially not some weird flashes of a dream that meant nothing.

A/N - and there's chapter two. Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.